The Specialist
by qfd
Summary: There are puck fucks and there are WAGs and then there are the women who are both as well as confessor, nurse, sister, friend, personal shopper, private dancer and lover. Payroll calls her "the specialist". The Vancouver Canucks just call her Penny.
1. Chapter 1

**_Prologue_**

Every professional sports team has someone just like me on the payroll. Some leagues, the NFL and the NBA, have more than one travelling with each team.

This is not exactly something I had pictured myself doing in life. It wasn't something I thought of as an option when I attended any of those job fairs in my teens, and it definitely didn't come up during any of my career aptitude tests. I didn't research it or have to apply for the position. I was, as is every member in the field ~ recruited.

It's not rocket science and I'm not exactly changing the world but I'm not _ashamed_ of what I do. Would I want my daughter to grow up and follow in my footsteps? Absolutely not. Like I said, I'm not ashamed of my work but if I ever get lucky enough to have a daughter of my own then I wish bigger and better things for her.

I'm sure my parents wouldn't be too thrilled to know that their youngest daughter regularly services a number of professional athletes… on her knees. Not that I have any intention of contacting them or anyone else in my family and telling them. I haven't seen my most of my family since the day I graduated high school and that suits me just fine. I don't need them to call me names to know what I am and what I do is something they'd approve of.

I've been called a lot of things, few of them complimentary, but then again, having a thick skin is a requirement in this particular line of work. Once a player's wife called me "The Girlfriend" and it stuck, which as long as it didn't bother _them_ it doesn't bother me, but on paper, for accounting purposes, I'm referred to as a _Specialist_.

Specialists usually don't stay with one team for longer than a single season, two at the outside. It is a precaution, a safeguard to prevent any unhealthy (read: un_wise_) attachments forming that you can guess can be an occupational hazard considering the intimate nature of the services the specialist provides. I've heard of women doing this that have gone off the deep end after falling for a player, intentionally causing chaos and drama in their personal lives, demanding attention outside of "work", and doing everything in their power to undermine the players' family lives. There have even been a couple of cases where a few girls ended up pregnant "accidentally" on purpose.

Of course these are exactly the types of things that employing a Specialist is supposed to eliminate. There are women, fans, and easy lays everywhere. In hockey they are often referred to by the players as "Pucks" because of the way they are passed around from player to player. But engaging in some naughtiness with a random puck is like playing Russian roulette with your dick. There are a million things that can and do go wrong and it isn't really worth it for the guys with the big contracts or the ones who have wives and girlfriends to go home to. These days fewer and fewer guys are willing to risk a paternity suit or the possibility of sharing a disease with their significant other and the from a purely business point of view, the team and the league has even less patience.

Still, it wasn't easy for the boys to stay faithful. Not that they don't love their wives or have the intent to be monogamous. The difficulty usually comes on the road when they're jacked up with adrenaline after an exhilarating win or equally wound up after a heartbreaking loss. That intensity usually manifests into something...primal.; a very basic and honest need that demands instant gratification.

Sex. A lot of sex.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It is up to each specialist to replace herself. She knows the players, their preferences, their 'special needs'; do they prefer blondes or brunettes, will the new girl be comfortable with a little s&m, can she move seamlessly between being a top and a bottom.

If the guys help in other cities I don't know. In my case, one was used as bait.

I was sitting on my own at a hotel bar, waiting for a friend, reading a book when he sent me a drink. I declined, with a smile. Even if he was just doing it to be nice, to be sociable, or because he was lonely, I didn't care. I was fresh out of something, not a really big fan of men right at that point and it didn't matter that he had big blue eyes and cute smile. He could have waved a ten inch dick at me and it wouldn't have mattered at that moment. The closest relationship I wanted to have with the male organ right then was something with batteries.

That's when a woman wearing this to die for crisp white blouse, and oh my god how does she walk in that black pencil skirt and stiletto heels sat down next to me, put her clutch on the bar and asked the bartender for whatever I was having.

"My name's Holly," she said, turning to face me, looking like one of those advertisements for shampoo out of an old Life magazine, "and you are?"

"Penny," I reply, taking her hand when it's offered. Her nails are blood red and the way she caresses my hand is purely sexual. If a guy had let his hand linger on mine the way hers had just done he would have earned a slap. When she did it, I could only smile. It's not that I swing that way but every once in a while you meet a woman who makes you think 'yeah, I could tap that'.

"Are you alone, Penny?" she says my name like she's committing it to memory and looks directly into my eyes in a way few women ever do.

"I'm meeting a friend," I reply wondering why I can't look away from her red lips or her high, sharp cheekbones.

"Girlfriend or boyfriend?" Again she never takes her eyes off of me, her gaze penetrating as she waits for my answer. I know by the way she says it and the expectant mona lisa smile exactly what she's asking. It's direct and straight to the point and a little part of me starts to wonder if she's hitting on me.

"Girl _friend_." I make the distinction she did not make and her smile grows by degrees, "and she's late." The answer obviously satisfied some criteria because she relaxes and when her drink comes she even takes a few sips before she speaks again, which makes me just a little uncomfortable, like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Are you single?" she asked plainly. I nodded and rolled my eyes.

"_So_ single," I muttered and her lips twitched at the corners as if she had either guessed as much or thought it was funny.

"Do you like sex, Penny?" and there it was, the other shoe. I was sure by then that she was hitting on me and had to take a big gulp of the margarita I'd been nursing. When I finally got the courage to look up at her she waiting for my answer, her red lips pursed, her eyebrow arched.

"As much as anyone I guess," I replied, wondering if the next thing coming out of her pretty mouth was going to be her asking me up to her room and if it was would I go? She smiled and tossed her thick mane of honey blonde hair over one shoulder and then leaned conspiratorially towards me.

"But do you enjoy it? Do you like getting…fucked, Penny?" I blinked at her, an image of her with nothing but a strap on and that bemused smile of hers making my palms sweaty enough that I brushed them along my thighs while I thought about my answer. I sipped hard on the straw, draining most of my drink and then holding up my mostly empty glass in the universal gesture for 'I'm dehydrated over here'. The answer was yes, but I was still grappling with the image of her with that battery powered appendage aimed at me and she must have read it in my eyes because she laughed and shook her head. "Him, would you like to fuck him?" she clarified, pointing towards the guy with the big grin and matching big blue eyes.

I glanced over at where he now sat alone at a table, relaxed as he watched one of those UFC matches on a screen and sipped on a beer. He had wide shoulders and thick forearms and the dress shirt he was wearing looked like it was ready to scream for mercy across the width of his back. He had big working man hands with thick fingers that made my lady parts clench and massive, powerful looking thighs that looked like they wanted to burst out of his expensively tailored dress pants.

"Yeah," I replied a little breathlessly , my mouth having become dry so that I was grateful when the bartender placed my new drink in front of me. I sipped at it, careful not to drain it all at once even though I wanted to.

"And if he had friends that looked just like that, would you like to fuck them too?" she asked me. I was still considering what it would be like to be underneath all that muscle I could imagine but not see when the idea of more than one of him surrounding a bed I was lying naked on made me choke on my drink. "I'll take that as a yes," she laughed, not giggled, and paid the bartender for my drink. I turned to look at her but he attention was now turned towards another television set over the bar where another sports channel was just beginning to show highlights from tonight's hockey game in Chicago.

"Are you like…his pimp or something?" I asked almost under my breath. Her lips pulled back across her teeth and she really laughed then, a deep belly laugh.

"No…but…that's an interesting way of looking at it," she chuckled, raising her straw to her lips as she watched the highlights, her gaze riveted to the screen. "Do you make good money Penny? I can see you like nice things," she added with a sideways glance at my purse, which had actually been a gift, not something that I could afford on my receptionist's salary.

"I wouldn't mind making more," I replied cautiously, my brain whizzing ahead, putting two and two together and coming up with nineteen. _Oh god_ I thought, _he's her pimp and I'm about to be turned out onto the street. _

"Have you heard of the Canucks, Penny?" she asked, the highlight package over. A bunch of guys were talking on the screen. I couldn't hear what they were saying but the Canucks logo was behind them.

"Of course," I replied. I wanted to add that everyone growing up in this city knows about the Canucks but I didn't because I realized suddenly who that man was sitting at the table behind us. The next thought in my head was '_oh my god she's Chris Higgin's girlfriend and I'm about to be asked to join a three way'._

"Do you like hockey?' she asked. I was wiping my hands on the thighs of my jeans again and wondering if I had the guts to say yes to the next thing I was sure she was going to ask.

"I do," I replied, afraid to say more than that.

"Then I'd like to put a proposition to you Penny," she said quietly, reaching for her clutch. I held my breath, waiting for her to ask me to join them in his room. I stared at her hand as she reached into her purse and pulled out a card. "Meet me at this office, tomorrow at nine. We'll talk."

I was flabbergasted as I mutely took the card she held out towards me. It was smile and white and had the Orca crest of the Canucks on it as well as her name, an address and a phone number. I stared at it, trying to make sense out of the questions she'd been asking and the professional, authentic looking business card I was holding in my hand.

"Specialist?" I asked, looking up into that bemused, lips pressed together smile.

"That's right," she smiled warmly, laying her cool palm over my wrist. "How'd you like to fuck hockey players for money Penny?"

* * *

I was sitting in a room full of pretty girls feeling out of place. Not because they were the obvious prom queen kind of pretty but the girl next door runner up kind of girl; the always a bridesmaid and never a bride kind of girl which seemed apt. After all, as it had been made crystal clear to me during the screening interview all of the girls in the room where here to be trained to be _exactly_ that, second fiddle.

They seemed to be the girl that plays touch football with the guys on a Sunday morning and didn't care if they got a little muddy or a little bruised. They reminded me of the girls in high school that never seemed like she should be a threat to the popular girls, could burp the alphabet but gave hella good head under the bleachers and always seemed to have a bunch of guys that wanted to sleep with her.

I'd never thought of myself as one of those girls. Oh I could be one of the guys and I'd been praised for some of my particular talents but I'd never even considered playing the field. I liked being a one man women. Of course I didn't tell the selection committee that and that might have been my first mistake.

I knew I'd made a another mistake the moment they brought out the pole.

Holly must have realized _she_ made one too when I showed up that morning in jeans. They were nice jeans, paired well with a loose knit sweater, a newsboy cap and riding boots – typical daily apparel for the urban Vancouverite.

Except… no one else had worn jeans.

I couldn't understand what the hell I was still doing there after the "etiquette" lesson. If they hadn't realized how poorly I was suited to all of this after the Great Rimming Debate then I was sure someone would have clued in when I nearly choked to death trying to beat out the three other girls in the deep-throat contest. If they're open to suggestions then next time they might consider using something that won't break off and require the Heimlich as a rescue; an English cucumber perhaps. Deep-throating a banana is all fun and games until someone chokes and dies.

A blonde named Tonia had won that round. And I give the girl crazy props because that thing went _all the way down_ and she didn't even blink. She claimed to have no gag reflex. She's probably really popular wherever she called home.

Absently I rubbed at my breastbone where some guy named Frank had doubled his fists and pumped the fruit out of my windpipe with a single heave from behind. The bruise would fade long before that story would lie down and die.

Across the room I could see that Dionne was still soaking up the praise after her spin around the brass. The "judges" had been very appreciative of her routine, especially when she had abandoned the pole entirely and went full out Striptease on all of us.

I admit that she did a really good job. And getting naked was a brilliant way to draw attention away from the red mess of matted hair piled on top of her head. I winced every time she started to reach for what _had_ been nearly waist length synthetic tresses and every time she'd aim a vicious glare in my direction.

In all fairness it wasn't _entirely_ my fault. Our Sensual Massage class had been going really, really well right up until my aromatherapy candle had gone out. Mandi, my partner, had been in the middle of turning me absolutely boneless with her talented hands and I hadn't wanted her to have to stop to find a match.

I always carry a lighter in the pocket of my jeans.

Without looking, I dug it out and lit it to show her that I had the solution to our problem right at my fingertips.

Unfortunately a good portion of Dionne's synthetic weave was ALSO close at hand.

I swear to God that my lighting her hair on fire had NOTHING to do with the way she was openly berating Mandi's massage technique. Everyone else seemed to believe me but Dionne was still very, _very_ angry.

Mandi had found me during the break as we waited for the smell of burning hair to dissipate and gave me a big smacking kiss on the lips. "Thanks, Doll."

She was cool. It had been her suggestion to get someone to clean the pole after Dionne humped it to hell and back during her routine. That reprieve offered me a couple of minutes to think of something, ANYTHING, I could do to put myself on par with the rest of the recruits.

Not that there was anything. I couldn't do any of what the others had done. Mandi had earned applause from all of us, using her legs in ways that I'd heard about but never witnessed before. The judges had loved her too. Each one of those executives had a smile on his face and his legs crossed… very carefully.

The captain liked her for sure. Hank grinned and took notes – notes! – as she gyrated and moved her hips like a pro.

Dionne didn't have much to offer with the hip action and I was all but certain she WAS a pro.

But now it was my turn. Any moment the beat would drop and I was finally going to get voted off this surreal little island. There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to be able to pull this off and finally they would toss me out of here on my head.

Of course there was the very real possibility I could fall off the brass and crack my head open first.

Sweet Jesus, what the fuck was I doing here?

My palms were damp and I wiped them on my thighs as I turned my back to the room and faced the pole. This was not going to end well.

Seriously, I can't believe I wore jeans.

* * *

"I can't believe it's down to just you and me," I told Mandi honestly as we lay on our side by side single beds and stared at the television screen. I wasn't really watching. It made me uncomfortable to watch this kind of thing with someone else in the room. Truth be told it made me blush when I watched it alone but it was part of our homework. Apparently professional athletes watch hours of porn on the road.

"You're going to win," she said, all of a sudden, just like that. I gaped at her because I still couldn't really understand how I'd gotten as far as I had and I hadn't really made up my mind that I wanted the position anyway.

"The idea isn't just to be willing and sexy," she smiled, her naturally plump lips that permanently looked like she'd been sucking a guy off for an hour, pulling back from her perfectly white teeth. "You have to be non–threatening too and babes, you have that in spades." It was a compliment and I knew that was the way she meant it but it made me squirm. "They're the kind of men who want to feel like they're in charge...until they don't. You've heard of that whole Madonna whore complex, well this job is the epitome of that dichotomy." It made perfect sense when she said it. I wasn't sure how that simple concept hadn't formulated in my brain already through all the discussions of rules and regulations mixed with fantasy scenarios and catalogues from both Victoria's secret as well as Bebe, Prada and Lacroix.

I wanted to tell her that I thought she was prettier than me, that she would kick ass out on a dance floor and if I swung that way I'd definitely consider her in my top ten chick list but I was too busy realizing that I was getting very close to officially becoming The Specialist for the Vancouver Canucks.

I didn't know if I was ready for it. I hadn't really taken it very seriously up to that point. I'd been seriously flattered to be considered. Parts of the 'training' had even been fun but at no point had I thought I'd actually come out on top. The main thing that had kept me in the running was I hated to lose.

"Before you say no," she sighs, lying back on the bed and giving me one of those 'mother knows best' looks, "remember, the money is...well, pretty amazing."

Oh yeah there was that part. What other job did I have lined up where I was guaranteed six figures and I'd have the whole summer off?

"Maybe I'll fail miserably on the date," I offered and watched as the corners of her full lips turned upwards.

"And maybe I'll get the rookie and scare the shit out of him. But seriously, may the best woman win," Mandi said, offering a fist bump which was such a guy thing to do it made me laugh out loud.

Now I just had to get through a date with a Canuck and I wouldn't know who until he arrived at the table in the restaurant. With luck I'd drop salsa on my boob, get hammered and make an ass out of myself and not have to sleep with a complete stranger, no matter how cute and how loaded he was.


	2. Chapter 2

_a heads up now that you've come this far. This is a story I've been writing on blogger with one of my best friends. It's likely the most erotic, smut filled for the sake of it story I've ever attempted but also the most fun because we get to delve into more than just a couple of players. Plus I haven't been back to my beloved Nucks in 4ever so...enjoy_

**Chapter 2**

"Wear the blue. He loves that color."

Her voice scared the shit out of me since I hadn't heard her come in; giving my already frayed nerves another test of strength. Though I think I covered well enough. I don't _think_ Holly could hear my knees knocking together.

I had been trying to decide what to wear for _The Date_ and had narrowed it down to a snazzy little red satin dress with a hem short enough to make Britney Spears nervous or an ice blue silk halter dress. It had no back; ergo, unless we were going to be somewhere warm and well insulated, my date would enjoy a very detailed view of the merchandise in my display case.

"Any chance you'll tell me who gets the joy of my company this evening?"

When I glanced at her Holly didn't even waste her time scoffing at my lame attempt to weasel some info out of her. "Do you like sushi?"

"No," I lied.

Holly smirked as if she could guess. "I'm sure you'll learn to love it."

Rolling my eyes I turned back toward the two outfits and chewed the inside of my cheek. "Really? The blue? You don't think it says I'm trying too hard? Y'know, Nuck colours and all."

I could hear the amusement in her tone when she replied, "Isn't that the point?"

Okay, it was true. All day long my mind had been a crowded mess as I had prepared for the evening. Everyday, regular tasks had taken me twice as long to complete and the results hadn't even come out that great. Shaving my legs had been a true test of focus and I was actually proud of myself for not slicing open a vein by the time I was done.

On the other hand, the 'sophisticated' up-do I had attempted only left me feeling uneasy and top-heavy. And I'd had to do my makeup twice, _twice_, because my hands were shaking so badly I nearly put my eye out with the mascara wand.

This was going to be a disaster. _I _was a disaster.

"Ugh!" Irritated with myself, with Holly, with the whole situation, I abandoned the wardrobe process to sink onto the corner of the bed closest to me. "This is insane. I can't do this. Seriously, I can't _do _this!"

Holly heaved a long-suffering sigh and I felt the mattress dip as she settled behind me on the bed. "Look," she said and carefully began removing the collection of bobby pins holding my hair in place, "I admit this job isn't for everyone. There are great advantages, incredible perks, and it can be a lot of fun for the right person." My hair fell in a heavy curtain across my shoulders and her fingers went to work. "But it's a ton of responsibility. It's not just about spreading your legs whenever they ask you to. You have to wear a lot of hats in this position. You have to be anything, be everything that they need, whenever they need it."

I was struggling to pay attention to her words, she was dropping nuggets of wisdom I could absolutely benefit from, _important_ things damn it, but Holly had begun a gentle massage across my scalp and I could barely keep from drooling.

"It will take time," she explained, "but eventually you'll be able to read the guys without having to ask. You'll know by the way they move, by the way they talk, by the way they _breathe_, exactly what they need."

Her hands shifted to my neck and her thumbs dug in to release the tension I'd been holding onto like toddler with a security blanket. I gasped and my head fell forward, muffling my words when I was finally able to say something. "So I'll know if they want me to take the reins or if they want me to lay back and let them drive, I get it."

"No," she murmured, sounding amused, "you really don't." The massage ended but I could feel her messing with my hair, her fingers catching where tangles had created themselves out of curls and hairspray. "We're so much more than the worst of what people think of us, Penny. We have the ability to complete the circle, to fill any absence. We're mothers, sisters, best friends, confidants. We're a delicate but strong shoulder to cry on and we listen without prejudice. We can take confession like a priest and then suck their cock like a whore. We might be the only people who get to see them at their greatest extremes, their highest highs and the lowest they can possibly get."

Holly picked up two hairpins and wove them into whatever masterpiece she was creating as she continued. "It's a heavy but honourable burden, you know. that they allow you the power to see them at their most vulnerable, that they trust _you_ to help them, that they turn to you for help in ways their families could never understand. They don't have to be strong for _us_. We get to be strong for _them_."

I pondered that, the weight of her words and felt her squeeze my shoulders lightly. "There. All ready."

Turning slightly I caught my reflection in the mirror above the dresser. Gone was my shellacked French twist, replaced instead by a much more natural look, my thick waves left loose but pinned back on one side above my ear.

"If he doesn't offer you a flower to tuck there then we'll have to have a chat," she said teasingly. "We're not the only ones trying to impress here. The guys can always use a little help in the romance department. Their wives appreciate it us reminding them every now and again, believe me."

There was something in her tone, something that triggered what I had wanted to ask her earlier during the early stages of training and I suddenly couldn't resist, I had to know. "Have you ever fallen in love with anyone on your team?"

Holly's encouraging smile dimmed and her expression was suddenly the most honest and candid I'd ever seen. In the span of a heartbeat she appeared a decade younger and a decade older simultaneously.

I regretted the question ten seconds too late.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "It's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked that."

A quick peek at the clock on the nightstand told me I had to get my ass in gear or risk being late. Something I had been warned against repeatedly. I crossed to the closet and reached in, hesitating only a moment before selecting the ice-blue silk that had been recommended.

Holly's usual smile was back in place and she offered me a wink with it before getting up to leave. Her fingers were on the doorknob when she paused and then looked back over her shoulder. "If you do it right, you fall a little bit in love with all of them, for all different reasons. Mostly because you realize that they're also there for _you._ It's when you find yourself loving one just a little bit more than the others that you need to step back. That's when you know it's time to take a bow."

Her fingers fluttered in a little wave as she pulled the door open. "Just remember to have fun tonight."

* * *

A sleek, low black Mercedes crouched beside the curb and the minute the front door of the hotel swung open one of the twins stepped out of the driver's door and walked towards me with that big, gentle smile that both the twins often wear. It's a smile that's impossible not to return and I did as he walked towards me with a single white rose in his hand; white for innocence, purity or maybe in this case, new beginnings.

"Hi I'm Hank, and you're as shiny as a new penny," he said with a playful wink, taking my hand and leaning in to brush his lips paternally against my cheek. "Hungry?" I nod, wondering if he can feel my hand shake in his. "Good, I have a table at Toshi waiting." With his hand on the small of my back he led me to the car and I looked down at my watch. I wasn't late. Maybe it was just a figure of speech.

I almost slipped off the leather seat, silk and shiny new leather failed to mix well as he handed me into the car but he didn't laugh. He made sure I was strapped in before he walked around to the driver's side and slid in behind the wheel. I thought he looked very European there in his dark suit with his mock neck sweater, and very blasé, considering he'd been watching me gag on bananas and shake my booty for two days.

As if reading my mind, the first red light we reached, he glanced over at me and not just at my side boob, and smiled.

"Don't be nervous," he began, his grin growing into something that looked like the ones fans saw out on the ice when he or his brother scored out on the ice. "I would like for you to consider this your second interview. I want to get to know you, answer some questions you may have, see how we go, okay?" I nodded, my lips still pressed together, probably with that wide eyed doe in the headlights look on my face. Part of me was doing an internal fan-girl dance, being this close to a Canuck, but the other part of me was busy fearing the fire crotch.

I actually considered telling him that I had a little phobia about red heads but his expression got serious and he seemed to be concentrating on the traffic so I fussed with my handbag and tried not to think about the condoms inside of it and whether or not I could actually do that trick to put them on. I managed to occupy myself with those thoughts until we pulled up outside the restaurant and I saw why it was important that a table be waiting for us, there was a line.

I felt overdressed as we passed the casually dressy crowd waiting for their turn to order plates of fresh delicacies that looked almost as good as candy. The staff all greeted him by name and once again I felt his hand on the small of my back as he steered me towards a table for two near the window. I kept my gaze fixated on that table and did my best not to think how many people wondered why our Captain wasn't out with his wife.

He pushed my chair in and ordered before I'd even picked up the menu. He poured steaming hot tea into a cup for me and then sat back in his hair and smiled.

"So, tell me, who on the team are you looking forward to getting to know the most?" I knew when he said it that 'getting to know' was a euphemism for fucking. I knew it and he knew it. That didn't make the question any easier for me to answer.

"Honestly...I'm scared to death of all of you," I answered as honestly as I could. His grin grew and his blue eyes sparkled.

"Good," he laughed as he picked up his chopsticks, "that's probably a good way to begin."

* * *

Dinner wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. After the initial nerves wore off we talked, about the team, about twin e.s.p. and warm versus cold sake. By the time he was signing the credit card slip I'd decided that I could do fire-crotch after all. Hank was definitely growing on me.

"So," he said, sliding his hand back to the small of my back but leaning close to whisper in my ear as he guided me towards the exit, "are you ready for the final phase of the competition?" My stomach did a little flip flop; only a little one because I was so full of tempura, mango salmon rolls and agadeshi tofu.

"Ready when you are," I replied, wishing now that I had something besides silk to wipe my sweaty palms on, and then I thought of his soft, cashmere sweater and when he went to open the passenger door for me, I put them flat against his chest. God damn it was wide.

"Oh no," he smiled, placing his hand over mine and then slipping a plastic hotel swipe card into my hand, "this is where I hand you over to one of the assistant captains."

"Oh?" My heart leapt in my chest like a cat jumping from a branch. There are four A's on every team. One of them was his twin brother. All four of them were favourites of the locals, married and handsome.

"Not going to ask who?" he smiles as if he's enjoying having a secret. I want to not care, tell myself that it shouldn't matter but the smirk that suddenly transforms his face so that he is almost laughing but not in a mean way. I can't even imagine him being stern. "You really are nervous aren't you?" he muses and then lifts my hand to press his lips lightly against my knuckles. "Well don't worry your pretty little head Pen, I promise he won't bite...much."

I immediately think of Burr and Bergeron in game two of the finals last year and try as I might, I can't help but smile. At least Burr would be a little less intimidating than some of the other players I can think of.

"Don't tell me," I insist as I slide into the leather of his car, more carefully this time, "I want to be surprised."

"If you insist," he laughs, starts the engine and points the nose of the Mercedes back the way we came.

* * *

It wasn't Burr though.

I didn't even get to finish swiping the card. The door almost came off its hinges and then I found myself staring into the dark eyes of the man Nucks fans call Kess. There was no 'hello', no small talk and definitely no time to think. His hand closed around my wrist and then I was up against the wall with his mouth on my neck and his other hand sliding up underneath my dress.

There was no way to wear even the skimpiest of panties under the slippery, curve skimming silk and he growled when he found nothing but smooth skin under his questing fingers. I gasped and momentarily went rigid when his thumb stroked my pearl. My body shuddered and melted against his, but my brain screamed that this was not exactly gentlemanly behaviour and that I didn't know this guy, _at all._

I reminded myself to breathe, though I could do little more than take the odd shallow breath as his teeth grazed the spot in my neck where my pulse was beating rapidly while he pressed the evidence of just how much he'd been looking forward to my arrival against my hip.

"Smooth," he whispered enthusiastically into my ear, his big hand cupping my mound before he slid his fingers down between my pussy lips. He shoved two fingers up inside of me and I squeaked. I couldn't help it. I wasn't ready. I'd expected...I don't know exactly what I expected but it hadn't been this. "Tight," he grunted, stubble rasping against my skin as he used his cheek to push the fabric away before fastening his lips around one nipple. I moaned, dug my fingers into his unruly hair and held on for dear life.

I'd wondered how it would happen, how long it would take for me to want it or if I would have to fake it. I wouldn't. My juices were already flowing and I could already feel that pressure in the bottom of my stomach and the warm sort of haze taking hold of me. And then he went to his knees, reverently before me, and with one, torrid look from him, he disappeared up under my dress and I knew I'd do anything, be anything he wanted.

I'd imagined having to suck until my jaw hurt. I'd imagined a hand job that made my elbow and shoulder ache. I never imagined having to stand in a hallway wondering how long my legs would hold me up while one of the Canucks expertly ate me out. My nails scratched uselessly for purchase against the wall while he held my pussy lips apart and stuck his tongue deep up into my snatch like he was trying to lick his way to the centre of a lollipop.

I groaned like a porn star when he sucked and nibbled on my clit. I begged for release when he lapped the flat of his tongue up and down my velvet valley like a kitten laps at a bowl of milk. I came like dropping off the edge of a cliff when he slid two fingers up inside of me and blew warm air across my clit at the same time.

"Oh god, ohfuckyeahRyan, fuuuuuuuck," I cried out as he pumped his long, thick fingers up inside of me and spread those slippery wet juices all over my peach. He reappeared from beneath my dress, wearing a good portion of those juices all over his mouth and chin as he grinned up at me.

"Tasty," he praised, licking his lips as he dragged the dress up over my hips and then over my head before dropping it onto the floor. I stared at it, wondering if dry cleaner would be able to do anything with it but unable to actually raise a finger or in this case, bend and reach for the pool of expensive fabric on the floor at our feet.

I was grateful when he picked me up as if I weighed less than a child and carried me over to the bed. I lay there, still panting, while he slowly undid each and every button of his pale blue dress shirt until he tugged it out of his pants and tossed it aside. I'd seen his nude photograph from that magazine but even that, as hot as it was, didn't do the real thing justice. He was sculpted like a granite statue, all hard lines and angles, sinew muscle and bone. He wasn't pretty but he took my breath away nonetheless.

"I have...," I reached for my purse and then wondered where it was. He grinned and produced a foil square from his pants pocket which he tossed to me and then proceeded to drop his pants and then wriggle out of a very tight pair of black boxer briefs.

I might have gasped. I know I made some kind of sound because his gaze, which had still been riveted to my chest now made its way up to my eyes and he laughed, transforming his entire face from warrior mode to boyish pleasure. I think he liked that his size almost scared me.

"This is nothing babe," he said, dead pan, just like that. "Wait til you get with Lappy or Higgs." I swallowed, told myself to man up and ripped the edge of the foil packet in my teeth. My hands shook as I tried to extricate the contents. I didn't put up any fight when he took it from me. "Gimme," he laughed, taking the condom and slipping it over his impressive tool with one hand, as if by magic but probably form years of practice. "Now turn over, on your stomach."

I did as I was told and he pulled me by my ankles to the edge of the bed before grabbing my hips and pulling me up and thrusting himself inside of me all at once. His considerable length and girth drove the air from my lungs. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. If the size of his dick hadn't rendered me speechless, the reflection of him in the window in front of us would have been more than enough to.

He looked grimly determined and almost on the verge of tears at the same time and he was saying something under his breath each time his hips pressed against my ass. I had to listen hard, past the rush of blood in my ears, but I knew it wasn't his wife's name he was saying. I couldn't really make it out but I realized, even as my body tightened around his and I heard him groan as his back arched and he stuffed himself into me one last time, that this probably came under specialist player privilege and I was about to find out something about Ryan Kessler that nobody else knew.

* * *

"So it's all _your_ fault," I teased as I traced the ridges of his six pack with my finger.

"Yeah, yeah," he grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Were the rest of the guys mad?" I asked slowly, glancing up at him only long enough to see if he was offended by the question. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then just shrugged.

"Maybe...I dunno, maybe more disappointed in me than anything," he admitted, running his fingers through my hair. I liked the feel of his doing it. It made me want to purr. I wanted, almost desperately to ask if his wife ever found out he had feelings for the last specialist that had shared his bed but I felt like that would be crossing the line, especially considering I didn't have the job yet. I also wanted to ask where she was now, with which team but I also didn't want to chase him any further into the shadows than he already was.

"Can I see your scars?" I asked suddenly, changing the subject and sliding further down his body to run my fingers over the still pink puckered scar tissue on his hip and thigh. "Oooh, poor baby, looks like it hurt."

"Not too bad," he claimed, and smiled down at me as I looked up the line of his body to his dark eyes. The steely defensive resolve that had been there a few minutes earlier was slowly being replaced by a sort of tenderness and ease that made me feel proud. I'd done that.

"What about this?" I asked, brushing my lips over a bruise just above his knee.

"Not really. Did at the time," he admitted.

"And this?" I asked, crawling over him to press my lips to a livid, purple bruise along his ribs. He sucked in a breath sharply.

"Mmm yep, that still hurts," he replied a little breathlessly.

"Yeah? What about this?" I whispered and then slid my hand down between his thighs to cup his balls. His cock twitched, like it had a mind of its own and didn't want to be ignored. As if I would.

"It uh...it could be kissed better," he mumbled and when I looked up at him his eyes had gone all unfocussed and he was wearing a sort of dreamy smile on his face. Ryan Kessler looked almost cute.

"Well then, I'll kiss it better here," I began, brushing my lips along the ridge beneath, "and here," the long, thick vein along the side, "and here," the now nearly purple helmet. He moaned.

"I think...that part there...yeah again," he mumbled and dug his fingers into my hair and pressed my mouth down over him and kept gently pushing until I had taken almost his full length. "Uhhhh yeah there," he moaned and when I rolled my eyes up to look, he was grinning, but his eyes were closed. Dragging my teeth gingerly up his length I watched that smile grow and felt my own growing around his dick. "Oh fuck yeah, we might have a problem," he laughed as I leisurely licked my way around the head of his cock. "I might fall for you too if you keep doing that."

"Promises, promises," I smirked and then slid my lips over his cock and, breathing slowly through my nose, slid his length over my tongue and down to my tonsils.

* * *

"So...have fun?"

I stumbled out of the elevator on my floor to find Holly waiting for me. I thought I should try and act professional or at the very least not like a giddy school girl whose just been asked out by the quarterback.

"It was...different than I'd expected," I admitted, thinking that was a better answer than 'hell yeah'. She nodded and opened the door to our room to let me in. I slipped out of my strappy silver heels and let out a contented sigh. I was sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing my feet before I noticed that the bed next to mine was empty, made and that there were none of Mandi's things were strewn around the room.

"Different good or...?" Holly asked, sliding into the chair in the corner.

"Good," I answered automatically, still looking for some evidence of my fellow contestant.

"I'm glad to hear that because Hank and Kess both forwarded glowing reports." I blinked at her, wondering how Ryan could have already done that when I'd barely left the room five minutes ago. As if reading my mind she held up her phone and smiled. "So I'm here to say that if you want it, the job is yours."

"But Mandi...?" I began and Holly shrugged one shoulder.

"What can I say, Mandi doesn't like sushi."

And that is how I got to be the Specialist for the Vancouver Canucks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It's not like I plan to do things that will cause more difficulty in my life. Sometimes it just happens.

Prime example? The day after all of the T's were dotted and I's were crossed on my contract and I was had begun settling in at my new luxury Coal Harbor condo, Hank announced that I would make my grand debut at the team's Halloween party.

Naturally, because men just don't get the planning that actually goes into things like makeup, hair, and wardrobe for special occasions that left me with very little time to procure a suitable costume. By the time I was able to find a shop that still had stock on the shelves my options were limited to Sexy Pirate Whore, Sexy Pirate Whore's Fairy Cousin (with wings), or Sexually Confused Pirate.

I'm honestly amazed how the only difference between most costumes is a little bedazzling and some spirit gum.

I had actually decided to go for the Sexually Confused Pirate hoping that portraying a man - okay, a flamboyant man in tights and a bling'd out eye patch - would help me downplay my sexuality a bit. The party was going to be my first opportunity to meet most of the players not to mention their wives and significant others and I was anxious about being too... much.

It was one thing to "know" your husband slept with some other woman. It was another to have to meet her while she was wearing some sexy, titilating outfit. So out of respect, I had hoped to keep things low key and had been searching for something fun but more on the innocent, demure side of the spectrum.

Unfortunately every single nun costume in the city had been snatched up and I was stuck with Captain Morgan the ambiguously gay henchman of the high seas.

Or so I thought until I spotted a pair of roller skates.

Other than my arms and legs, I was completely covered! Granted, the shorts were satin and 1970's short and the Hello Kitty t-shirt was a size or two smaller than I would normally wear but the knee socks were totally adorable in an almost innocent and I hoped UN-sexy way, so I was pretty sure that I had achieved my non-threatening costume.

Of course there was always the chance that I may have overshot the mark, which was apparent when I rolled in and Lou did a spit take, Andrew Alberts poured beer on himself and nearly every woman in the room bared their teeth in my direction.

Kes appeared at my side, his face a mixture of amusement and exasperation as he helped me out of my coat. "You're even wearing fucking pig tails."

"Hm?" I was distracted by the number of people in the place. For some reason I had expected a smaller gathering. Instead there seemed to be a small nation of revellers spread throughout the hall, most of the women wearing... very little.

By comparison I stood out like a sore thumb and instantly attracted all of the attention they were trying for. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end while eyes raked over me, not all of them friendly.

Kes was shaking his head once I finally tuned him back in. "What?" I asked.

"You're a set of knee pads away from a really interesting night," he declared, passing off my coat to someone else.

I glanced down at myself and wrinkled my nose. "Too much?"

He rolled his eyes and hauled me close enough so that I could hear him while getting towed across the floor. "Bring it on the road, Sugar. I guarantee you a long, rough trip."

The heat of his breath on my neck made me shiver and the sense memory of his low, husky voice spewing filthy instructions during our last encounter had me instantly aroused. I was suddenly ready for him to bend me over the nearest solid surface, disapproving audience be damned!

One night. I'd had ONE freakin night with one of these guys and I was already hooked.

Not that I thought that there was any chance of getting a fix tonight. As Kes nudged me along I was very aware of the eyes of most of the women turning to watch us walk through the room and I was betting they'd notice if I sneaked off with one of their husbands.

"I'm sensing...animosity," I hissed and heard him laugh beside me.

"Not gonna lie, there's bound to be some of that. It's all in how you handle tonight," he instructed. If his advice was supposed to make me feel better, he'd failed, epically. My stomach tightened and my hands got clammy.

"I'm gonna need a drink," I blurted out and as if by telepathy a dirty martini was forced into my hand. I stared down at it and then up at the crystalline blue eyes staring back at me. "Thank you," I whispered, my lips pulling away from my teeth in a smile that answered his own.

"You're welcome," he said warmly and then, leaning in to brush his lips lightly along my cheek he added in a whisper, "you look like you needed it." If it was wrong to wonder if he could anticipate my need for alcohol what he'd be like anticipating my every desire in the sack was wrong, in that moment I was a very, _very_ bad girl.

"I love your outfit. I wish I'd thought of it." All of those thoughts crashed to the floor like a broken glass when I turned and looked down at the cute, eager face of the woman who was tucked into Kevin's side as if she had grown there.

"Well I'm already regretting the footwear," I told her honestly and her already adorable smile grew exponentially. She vibrated with energy and when he turned those sky blue eyes to look down at her with a protective affection, I actually felt jealous.

"I could do with the extra inches," she sighed self effacingly. I wanted to tell her that fitting under a guy's arm the way she did was just about perfect but the way her husband was looking at her made that comment a bit unnecessary. "Why don't I introduce you around?" Katie said brightly and I wanted, very much, to say no, but with a little push to the small of my back Kess sent me in her direction and the guys just sort of melted away. The next time I got my hands on him, he was gonna pay for that.

"Thanks," I muttered, but didn't feel it. She giggled, honestly, giggled like a little girl.

"We don't all bite, I promise," she chuckled, and then her eyes got a little wide and she put out a hand to stop me rolling forward. "Except Andrea...and she's kinda already mad at you."

"Oh good," I grumbled and felt that prickling at the back of my neck again.

"You know she was...she did...your job right?" Katie asked and I felt my eyes get wide. "I guess not," she smiled and laid a hand on my arm. "So if she's a little suspicious, you can understand, right?" I nodded, thinking it would have been nice if her husband had let me in on that little nugget of information. Oh he was gonna pay alright.

"What about you?" I asked, suddenly wondering if she was this happy because her husband was forbidden from going anywhere near me.

"Me? Did I do...?" she looked perplexed and I sighed and shook my head, reminding myself to be more clear.

"How are you okay with...me?" I asked, still feeling weird about saying what I did, especially to her in all her shiny happiness.

"I wasn't, at first, of course," she admitted with a roll of her eyes. "But y'know, after a bit, well after Cole...honey you're a godsend, really. Kev has...," her eyes wandered to where her husband in his Elf suit was raising a beer with Kess and Malhotra, "he has a big appetite for pretty much everything and now since Reese...between you and me, it's kind of a relief for someone else to tire him out, y'know?" I was shocked and it probably showed but she didn't let on, just smiled and gave me a tug that had me rolling behind her. "C'mon, meet the girls."

* * *

"Need some help with those?" The idea had been cute but I was over the rollerskates, especially since I'd started bumping into everyone after a couple of martinis. I nodded before I even looked up to see who was offering and found myself looking into another pair of blue eyes, these ones more the colour of the ocean mid afternoon at Montego Bay. "The socks are cute too," he added with a big smile that made his eyes crinkle at the edges. I smiled back and flexed my rainbow toe socks.

"You like?" I asked playfully and he nodded, tugging off my second skate and then expertly tying both sets of laces together so they wouldn't roll off on their own.

"I do," he chuckled and straightened to his full height, his gladiator costume leaving most of his mile wide shoulders and gargantuan arms bare. I stared at his biceps so long he cleared his throat and then laughed when I had to blink to force myself to look up into his eyes. "Think you can slip and slide out onto the dance floor?" he asked, holding his hand out to me, which might have been a mistake. I looked at his hand and then was immediately distracted by the six-pack starting back at me from between where his armour stopped and his roman kilt bottom began. It had to be fake, I thought as I just sat there, staring at it. No one had muscles that looked like that. "Penny for them?"

"Ha ha." He was not even the first of his teammates to do it but it still did the trick of dragging my attention back up to his hundred watt smile and blue, _blue_ eyes.

"So, the WAGs didn't scare you off?" he asked, his mouth close to my ear, his arm tight around my waist as I walked beside him towards where a few of the guys were cutting a rug, including Lou in his bright white Saturday Night Fever suit and Kess in his Tarzan costume.

"It's surprising to me as well," I explained with a wry smile as the music suddenly slowed and we were suddenly facing one another. "I think I was expecting much gnashing of teeth and pulling hair," I admitted with a wink as he slid his hand down to my hip. His hand felt big there, in charge, as if I was going to try and get away. I was fairly sure I was right in thinking that he, Co Ho and Booth might be the only single guys on the team, and so I was feeling a certain measure of safety dancing with him.

"Well that would have made the night interesting anyway," he laughed, those ocean blue eyes of his crinkling again at the corners and his entire face lighting from within. I remembered his being at the bar that night and thought that he was very good bait indeed. At that moment I had the overwhelming urge to run the palm of my hand over the stubble on his cheek to see if it was rough or soft.

"So...what happened to the last one?" I asked him and his face immediately transformed into the politician's mask and she knew she wasn't going to get a complete or honest answer. "I mean...Ryan told me that he takes the blame. I just meant...where did she go? To another team or...?" I watched his glance go towards where Kess and Juice were currently arm wrestling and laughing.

"For his sake...I hope she got moved to Long Island or somewhere we won't come across her," Chris replied softly. I followed his gaze to the tight knit group and liked that he cared about them that way. I didn't know how he'd felt about the girl who had been in my shoes, and I guess, in their beds. Maybe he'd liked her, maybe they all had, and they could have been really angry at Ryan for it but they didn't seem to be. They could have also been less welcoming to me, but that didn't seem to be the case either. "So," he turned a smile back at me and changed the subject. "How are you liking your new digs?"

"It's way nicer than my place," I agreed, "but I'm not quite moved in yet. I mean...I have some spaces to fill...I don't know. I'm not really sure what vibe to go for y'know? I mean...it's not just for me so I was actually going to ask Hank but maybe you can throw your two cents in. I was thinking about some modern prints but I'm open to a more rock and roll kind of photo collage thing...," I began and my only warning that he wasn't listening was how wide his eyes got right before one of my pony tails almost got pulled out of my scalp. "Fuck! Ow!" It was a good thing I wasn't on wheels at that point or I'd probably have been on my ass. As it was, I staggered backwards and the only reason I didn't fall was Chris still had a hold on me.

"Andrea no!" he began in the tone you use on your dog right before they piss on someone else's furniture.

"You little whore," she snarled at me right before her palm came in painful contact with my cheek. I blinked, stunned, and stared at Cinderella in her giant organza ball gown that looked like it belonged in a Disney cartoon. She was wearing too much make up, like those little kids in the Toddlers and Tiaras show and I was so mesmerized by an obviously fake beauty spot that I didn't see her claws coming for me until they were right in front of my eyes which thankfully was the moment when Kess got a hold of his wife and just like the character he was portraying for the night, lifted her completely off of her feet and dragged her away from me.

"Jesus woman you're drunk and you're making an ass out of yourself," Ryan hissed at her as she struggled to get free of a grip that I knew from experience felt like being pinned by solid steel beams.

"We don't want her here, tell her RyRy," she pouted, kicking her silver slippers in the air while her hoop skirt rang like a bell around her knees. I tried not to laugh but it was hard, especially when her lily white boobs started to spill from the top of the dress.

"Stop it Andi. Promise you'll behave and I'll put you down," Kess hissed at her, looking distinctly unhappy. I should have felt sorry for her. She was obviously drunk, slurring her words and forgetting that she was supposed to act like a lady, but the look of barely constrained rage on her husband's face was making the panties I couldn't wear under the eenie weenie satin shorts go up in flames. I couldn't help it.

"It's okay," I told him but his dark eyes never even wavered from watching his wife's face.

"Say you're sorry Andi," Ryan hissed between clenched teeth.

"No," she sulked, her bottom lip jutting out like a petulant child's. "We don't _need_ her here," she added for good measure, sending me a withering look that did actually make me feel about an inch tall. I crossed my arms around myself and took a step back but there was no escaping. I backed right into Chris's massive chest and Lappy was right beside him with Juice not far away.

"C'mon Andi, let's get another drink," Gina offered, patting Andrea's hand like it was the head of a Persian cat. Ryan stared daggers at Lou's wife but let her take his spitting alley cat and lead her away. He stared after them like he was trying to decide if he should be the one taking her away but then Katie was there, sliding her little hand over his and leading him towards us.

"Y'know what I think? I think this party is almost done and I think you guys still need to let off some steam so, Kev, honey, why don't you and Ry take Penny down to the rink to cool off and do some wind sprints or...y'know whatever," she added with a wink in my direction. I felt my jaw drop. She was giving me permission, in front of absolutely everyone to fuck her husband, tonight, not on the road, not after a game, _tonight_.

"God I love you woman," Juice laughed and picked her right up like she weighed about as much as a puppy and kissed her full on the mouth. "Coming Kess?" he said as he put her down and gave her round ass a playful slap.

"Fuckin' rights," Ryan growled and linked his arm with mine and started pulling me off the dance floor.

"But...my roller skates," I complained as I practically had to jog to keep up with him. When I looked back Higgs had them hanging from one hand. "I don't have any shoes," I tried to explain, looking over at Juice who laughed and then picked me up and put me on Ryan's back.

"Come on," Kev laughed, giving my ass a swat, "let's go skate."

"But I don't know how," I told him honestly. I heard Ryan laugh.

"Well we can't fuckin' have that, can we?"

* * *

An extra pair of socks and a pair of figure skates that I didn't ask where they came from later and Kev was on the ice, facing me, wiggling his fingers and crooning at me like I was a little child.

"Don't let me fall," I muttered unhappily, looking down at the cold, white, hard ice.

"And bruise this cute heinie? We won't do that, will we Juice?" Kess asked from behind me, giving my ass a swat that would have, had I been on the ice, sent me right down onto it.

"Orrrrr," Kev grinned in a way that made me yearn for those kneepads Kess had alluded to earlier, "every time she falls she has to take something off."

"What?" I looked down at my tiny satin shorts and silly little top and shook my head. Naked and ice didn't sound like a good combination to me. "More like every time you guys let me fall you have to take something off." I hadn't been happy about their changing into track suits but they'd pulled the 'v.i.p.' card on me and I hadn't been able to argue, much. Now, however, that meant they had jackets, t-shirts, pants, shorts and underwear to take off which was a hell of a lot more than I did.

"Sounds like a plan," Kess growled in my ear and slid the palm of his hand over one of my breasts and giving it a squeeze. My pussy clenched and I think I moaned but I only had a moment to ponder on the x-rated vision in my head before he picked me up and put me down on the ice and my feet started to go every which way and I started to shriek like a little girl.

"I gotcha, don't worry," Kev grinned, his big hands snapping around my forearms like they were matchsticks as he steadied me. With hardly any movement at all he was gliding backward and pulling me forward. "See, easy," he chuckled.

"Don't let me go!" I whined and felt Kess's hands on my hips.

"Then how are we gonna get naked?" he purred like a big cat in my ear and then stroked his hand up my ribs to my breast again and for some reason that made me move my feet and start to fall. I think I shrieked again but they didn't let me fall. Kess's arms locked around my waist and he held me against him, his feet on either side of mine as he steadied me. "Better?" he asked, grinding his erection against the small of my back. I nodded, breathlessly.

"Hey, hey, no monopolising the specialist Kess," Kevin tutted and reached for one of my arms. Ryan let me go and Kev spun me towards him. One minute I was almost crashing into the boards that loomed in the near darkness like spectral barriers that I was under no illusion would hurt if I ran into them, and the next I was facing him, locked to him with his arms around me and we were speeding along the boards, my skates off the ice.

"Faster?" I giggled and he laughed, hiking me up until my legs were around his waist and he skated like the wind, his hands cupping my ass, mostly under my shorts.

I kissed him. It seemed like the right thing to do. I wanted to kiss his grin, wanted to feel his still slightly swollen bottom lip as I did. He kissed me back, his tongue gliding over mine and I felt it right down into my pussy and moaned for him.

"That's a penalty Juice," I heard Kess call from behind us and then he was right there, his lips and teeth on my neck. I arched my neck for him and he traced my jugular right up to my ear while Kev nuzzled my breasts and slid his thumb under my shorts and found my slit and started to stroke my joy buzzer.

"Player's lounge," I suggested, thinking of the white leather couches and the heat.

"Nah," Kess growled behind me.

"Yeah, nah," Kev chuckled and then a door swung open and he lifted me inside. Kess followed and swung the door shut. "Always wanted to do this," he added, putting me down carefully on the bench. I looked around and realized that we were in the penalty box, literally the sin bin. I tried not to think about all of the guys that horked oysters in here, spit and bled right in this spot as Kess slid his track pants down and offered his cock to my lips. I looked up at him and smiled and opened my lips so he could slide his cock over my tongue while Juice carefully lifted my bottom off of the bench and slid my shorts down.

I moaned around Kess's dick while Kev lapped at my cunt, my knees over his shoulders. He spread my pussy lips wide and dug his tongue in and made me moan which made Kess have to reach out and press his hands flat to the glass on either side to keep his feet.

"Do you know how he got his nickname?" Kess asked me, his voice hoarse as I rolled my tongue around the head of his cock. I rolled my eyes up and shook my head, just a little. "He likes to suck pussy juice, right Kev?" he chuckled and then dragged in a sharp breathe as I cupped his balls in my hand. If Kev answered it was only a muffled vibration that made me cry out, tipping my head back as I came. "Nice," Kess said admiringly as I sat there shuddering and high fived Kev who licked his lips and then dropped his pants. I whimpered. It was as long as Kess's but as thick as a Coke can. "Told ya," Kess laughed as Juice dropped onto the bench beside me and grinned.

Like a true gentleman Kess held out his hand and helped me manoeuvre onto Juice's lap and held my hand as I lowered myself over him. I felt like I was being spitted for a barbeque in a good way. I moaned as I slid down over him and he nuzzled my breasts, pushing my shirt up over them and capturing one nipple in his mouth. I tipped my head back and Kess grabbed hold of one of my pig tails and tugged. He'd climbed up on the bench and his cock was right there. I smiled up at him and opened my mouth wide and he slid his dick over my tongue.

"I'm gonna think of this the next time I slash Bickell in the face," Kess promised, pressing gently on the back of my head and forcing my mouth down over him.

"Fuckin' rights," Kev chuckled, releasing my one nipple with a wet popping sound before dipping his head down to take the other one.

As for me the next time I saw one of them in the sin bin I'd have to break out a vibrator.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

There's one great thing about going to bed with two sexually insatiable professional athletes.

And that would be, waking up with two sexually insatiable professional athletes.

I'd expected them to go back home to their wives after we'd been at the rink but Kev seemed in a particularly good mood, too energetic to send home to Katie so we'd gone to True Confections for desert and Kess ordered the biggest piece of cake I'd ever seen in my life and it wasn't even to share.

Just sitting between them eating my chocolate cake with Grand Marnier mousse, listening to them talk about their teammates, about last year and this year and their kids was an eye opener. They held nothing back, like they'd known me forever and it was okay to tell me all their secrets. I was honoured. I also fell a little in love with each of them.

Then I'd thought they'd sneak home to their own beds, to kiss their kids goodnight and hug their wives. I was wrong then too.

I think it was Ryan who suggested round two. I almost wanted to groan. I was a little tender and by then a little tired but I wasn't sure of myself enough to send them home if they wanted to come home with me. I just hadn't expected them to stay.

I awoke in the midst of a mind numbing orgasm with Juice's head between my thighs and had no time to gather my wits before Kes nudged him aside and rang my bell again.

Neither of them seemed in much of a hurry to leave so we played around in the shower, ate some breakfast, and finished the morning watching the Dolphins take on the Giants. It was the first time I had ever enjoyed a football game in my life. Of course, I watched most of it either upside down or with my face pressed against the couch cushions...,good times.

Kevin checked out first, dragging me to the door for a goodbye kiss that curled my toes. "I'm gonna request a key," he announced with a wink and then closed the front door behind him.

I floated back to the living room and collapsed next to Kes who lifted his arm so I could snuggle in close. We had a brief tussle over possession of the remote while he pretended not to hear his cell phone ringing again, as it had been nearly all night. It never occurred to any of us to turn the damned thing off.

Now, he sighed heavily and spoke softly, lips moving against the crown of my head. "She wasn't always like this, you know."

"Well I think I can understand, especially since she used to me, which you could have warned me about by the way," I reminded him, digging my elbow into his ribs. He pretended it hurt. I've seen the beatings he regularly takes out on the ice. I didn't believe him but I didn't say so either.

"She's got to learn," he shrugged. I thought he was going to leave it at that but then he sighed and leaned over to press his lips to my cheek. "She's my baby momma and I love her but this is part of the job too and she knows it. We tried to go without and Juice's balls nearly exploded from lack of use." I snickered at the visual in my head but he had a serious point and so I asked what I'd been dying to ask since Holly had picked me out at the bar.

"So...this is like a perk? Like a bonus cheque or overtime pay?" Ryan smirked and then shrugged.

"Yeah kinda I guess. I mean...well put it this way, guys that do this, professional athletes have a kind of high testosterone count or whatever which means we have energy to burn, plus we tend to be kind of risk takers but we have all these clauses in our contract about no bungee jumping, sky diving, rock climbing, y'know, shit that gets your rocks off so...sex is a kind of safer outlet and we could be picking up pucks at a bar but the league in its infinite wisdom decided paying one or two women per team is cheaper than paying out for a whole lot of penicillin and DNA tests." The explanation made perfect sense so I shrugged, cuddled into his side and did my best to ignore the fact that his phone was ringing again.

I was going to have avoid his wife for like...ever.

* * *

I was pretty sure that I had over packed but it was my first road trip with the team, we were going to be gone for over two weeks and even after receiving a "check list" helping hand from Holly, I still didn't feel prepared.

Nevertheless, I was on the plane and strapped in, ready to fly the friendly skies on the team shuttle.

The fact that I was a terrible flier never came up during the interview process and I hadn't really been able to get my head around the whole having sex with a whole team of guys so I hadn't given it much thought, until now.

"Can I switch you seats?" The voice above me totally caught me off guard since I was studiously reading every word of the pamphlet marked "safety features" I'd pulled from the seat in front of me.

"Huh?"

Chris made an apologetic face and tapped the seat number identified on the overhead compartment. "It's ridiculous, I know. But there are very few superstitions I'm a slave to and unfortunately for you, this is one of them."

Right. Naturally.

"Um... sure, yeah." Because we hadn't taken off yet, I was just about confident enough that moving around the cabin wouldn't throw off the balance of the plane and stepped into the aisle so that he could have the window seat.

"Thanks," he grinned and immediately reclined the seat, stretching out.

My phobia let up long enough for me to appreciate the view and I found myself staring at the sliver of skin that was showing above the waistband of his black pants the one with a ripple of his crazy toned abs but with the goody trail that had 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' playing in my head. That one inch of skin had me distracted long enough to forget that I had planned to request a lifejacket from the flight attendant.

"'Scuse me, Penny," a warm hand settled on the curve of my hip and I glanced up to see Alex Edler smiling shyly at me, trying to edge past.

"Oh! Sorry!" I immediately plopped down next to Higgy and fastened my seat belt, anxious to get in the air despite how much I hated it.

I forced myself to concentrate on other things since I couldn't keep staring at Chris without looking like a complete cock starved loony tune. The guys were all on board and settling down so the cabin door was being sealed.

As we began to taxi along the runway I could have proudly reported to anyone interested that there were 40 windows on the left side of the plane and 43 on the right. And 14 dents in the ceiling. 11 scuff marks on the overhead bin doors. And it was approximately 7 feet to my closest emergency exit.

Before I actually hyperventilated, I closed my eyes and attempted to take some deep breaths. At least with my eyes closed, if I passed out due to lack of oxygen, people would just assume I was sleeping until I finally came back around which I've been told involves flailing, gasping and sometimes punching the person closest to me. I was just thinking about whether or not I had the breath to warn him when warm, strong fingers slid across my hand and peeled the armrest free of my white-knuckled grip.

My eyes shot open to see Chris watching me thoughtfully as he laced our fingers together lightly.

"You could have said something," he murmured under the roar of the engines.

I didn't bother trying to act as if I didn't know what he was talking about. From experience, I knew that I was probably as pale as paste and wide eyed in a completely unattractive way. "It's not so bad."

The expression on his face was so disbelieving that it made me chuckle.

"Really," I said. "It's only for takeoffs and landings. I don't handle those too well."

"Take offs and landings," he repeated slowly.

"And turbulence," I admitted. "And air pockets. Or cross winds." And long flights and short flights in small crafts... but I decided that he didn't need to know all of that stuff. "I'll be fine in a few minutes once I find something to take my mind off of the fact that we're in the air."

Chris thought about that and then nodded slightly. "What helps?" I had a vision of him and I and the do not disturb sign on the bathroom but remembered that we were supposed to stay belted in our seats, at least until we achieved some ridiculous height above the earth that I really didn't want to think about right at that moment.

"This," I gave him a strained smile and held up our joined hands, "physical contact. Usually on commercial flights I take a pill or enjoy some baby bottles of booze. But I promise, I'll be fine in no time. I probably won't puke on you." He raised an eyebrow and aimed that panty melting smile of his at me and my tension eased, just a smidge.

"Try and aim it at the seat in front of you, Lappy needs a haircut anyway," he said, in a stage whisper that resulted immediately in Max turning around and pulling one of his ear buds out.

"I heard my name," he said, levelling his gaze at me in a way that made it clear he was imagining me out of the knee length chocolate sheath dress I was wearing. Normally when a guy looks at me like that I have the urge to smack them with my purse but when Max did it, it made me grin and think about climbing over the seat and unbuttoning the pale blue dress shirt that was just about holding together at the seams across his shoulders.

"It's those voices in your head again," Chris deadpanned which only made Max roll his eyes and turn back to me.

"Anytime you're ready chérie, you just let me know, ça va?" I had no doubt it would be soon and nodded, wondering just how small the bathroom would be in a private charter like this and if there was any possibility that there would be room for three.

"There," Chris said, lifting our enjoined hands and pressing his lips to the back of mine.

"There?" I asked, looking around.

"We lifted off. You said take offs and landings were what worried you. We're climbing. You good now?" I glanced out the window. He was right. I hadn't even felt it. I turned back to him and nodded, a big, dumb grin on my face. "Good," he smiled and went to drop my hand. I didn't want him to and held on. "I'm gonna need my hand back, to turn the pages in my book," he pointed out but I shook my head.

"Statistically this is one of the worst times in a flight, this is when a lot of planes go down, just after takeoff," I pointed out and he rolled his eyes but kept smiling. He had a really nice, warm, easy smile.

"Okay scaredy-cat. What's gonna help? Gum? Tranquilizer dart?"

"Do you have one of those?" I asked and he laughed.

"No, but I'll tell you what. I'll tell you about the time I helped my brother kick this perp's ass in Times Square if it'll help?" I nodded eagerly and he heaved a sigh and then sat back. "Okay, so this wino had mugged this old lady..."

* * *

I could have listened to Higgy talk about his family for a week. He was obviously proud of them and I somehow it added to his All American boy next door charm to now that his family was in uniform. Men in uniform, any uniform apparently, is a particular weakness and as I sat there, listening to his stories, I started to picture him in a Fireman's calendar, all bare-chested with those crazy abs of his on display but that lead me to thoughts of wanting to play with his hose and then I stopped hearing him talk and started just staring.

"Um...earth to Penny?" he laughed, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I blinked, startled, and realized I'd been staring at his package, openly, and lifted my hand to touch my mouth, to see if I'd actually been drooling.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, partially embarrassed and partially...well...not.

"You were like...a thousand miles away," he said and I made a face.

"Not really. Only about a hundred feet...if that," I replied quietly, sneaking a look down the aisle to see if the occupied light was on. "Have you ever...y'know?" I asked, looking back at him and then tilting my head meaningfully up the aisle. He followed my gaze and then blushed, crimson, right to the tips of his ears.

"No," he replied firmly and stared straight ahead.

"So how 'bout it?" I asked, giving him what I thought was a playful nudge. He grimaced, as if I could possibly have even made a dent in his wall of muscles and shook his head.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," he grumbled and kept staring straight ahead. I blinked, not sure I could have heard him right.

"I can be quiet," I promised, keeping my voice low. "It's not like I'm gonna scream so loud the whole plane will hear, if that's what you're worried about." I realized as I said it that it might have been a lie, considering Kess's warning about Higgy's endowment but decided I would do my best, bite on a towel if I had to.

"I mean no...I don't _want_ to," he growled and then shot me a sideways glance that made me sit back in my seat, as if he'd pushed me there, as if he'd slapped me.

"Fine," I mumbled, hurt and a little crestfallen. "It was just an idea." I pulled a magazine out of my bag and turned so he couldn't see my face. I felt like a big 'denied' sticker had been put on my forehead or a rejected stamp had been slammed across my face. I wanted a giant hole to open up in the side of the plane and suck me out.

"We're gonna land soon anyway," he said a little less tersely.

"Whatever," I mumbled, snapped my magazine open and pretended to read.

* * *

"Can I help you with your bags demoiselle?" I nodded and let Max pull my bag and his as we headed towards the entrance of the hotel. I'd intentionally sat at the back of the bus, with the trainers and other staff, away from the guys, on the trip from the airport. The fact that Max had waited for everyone else to get off the bus made me like him just a little bit more. "I'm sorry about Higgy," he added, leaning close so that he was practically whispering in my ear. I shrugged. "He was probably in a bad mood," Max added, to which I again, merely shrugged. I wasn't sure what he might have overheard, if anything, and this was my first road trip. I didn't want to earn a reputation by bitching about one of his teammates, especially one I knew he was close to.

"I'm not a great flyer," I brightened, forcing myself to smile and put the whole episode behind me. "I'm sure it's my fault."

"Well if he holds that against you I'll put him into the boards for you in practice," he grinned and it was hard not to grin back. Lappy has that kind of a smile that makes you want to be happy with him. "Can I help you settle into your room?" he asked as we waited for the elevators. I shrugged. It was my job to be amiable. It wasn't my job to be sullen and tell him that I wasn't in the mood.

"Sure," I answered, telling myself to relax, that it wasn't Lappy I was upset with and that really I had no right to be upset at all, that I was reading too much into it and that maybe Higgy is just more private than some of the other guys and that seemed to help.

So did the room. I don't know what I'd expected but when we got to the door with the little brass plaque that read "honeymoon suite" I stood there grinning like an idiot.

"Really?" I looked over at Max who laughed and reached over to take the security card out of my hand and swipe it.

"Well it kind of is like that, non?" he purred in my ear as he swept past me, leaving his bag near the door and taking my bag into the room, a room with a king sized bed with a mountain of pillows, a plush soft looking burgundy and gold comforter and a bottle of champagne chilling on ice waiting for us. "Shall we open it?" he asked, taking the bottle out and retrieving two glasses from a cupboard beside the big screen TV.

"Hell yeah," I grinned and flopped down on the bed, toeing off my shoes. Max looked down at my red toe nails and then slowly he let his gaze move up my body. I was sure Max had done all this because he wanted to have sex but he wasn't making a move to get naked, or asking me to get naked so I began to wonder if I was assuming that was all he wanted, that he, like so many Frenchman I've met was just all about the conquest, that he looked at women as playthings and sex as a game. Being good at it is merely evidence of being male. As I watched him pour the champagne I started to think that I'd hate to be with a team full of Quebecois players.

Scratch that. I'd be as happy as a pig in shit.

Max wanted sex alright, I could tell by the heat in his gaze when he turned to hand me the glass, the way his fingers slid along mine, causing sparks along my skin but what he wanted was not the "let's get ready to rumble" sex that Kess liked. Max wanted to come at it from the side. He wanted me to think it was my idea. He wanted me to want it and therefore want him.

Not that it was hard to want him. He's got that whole voyageur sexy rogue vibe going for him. There was no doubt in my mind that he was all man and that at some point I was going to have to invoke my safe word, or beg for mercy.

I wanted to tell him, as I sipped the champagne, that he didn't really have to work so hard at the whole seduction thing. He could have just pulled down his pants and yelled 'ta da' and I would have gotten into bed with gladly but I reminded myself that there was a little more to my job than just getting naked and doing the deed.

I was supposed to be a sexual chameleon, all things to all the guys on the team. So if Max wanted me to be a happy flirtatious coquette then I would. So I batted my eyelashes, asked him if he'd stay and keep me company, if that wouldn't get him into trouble. That way he could play the part of the chivalrous hero, which he did. With his chest puffed out he accepted, making sure I knew that he didn't worry about the 'rules' and then he fed me chocolates and kissed my neck while I savored the decadent chocolate truffles.

His hand felt huge on my inner thigh and he took so much time working his way northwards that I had to actually work at not squirming. He knew what he was doing though, by the time he was sliding the palm of his hand over my panties they were drenched and I was ready to beg. I managed not to, just, but had to bite down hard on the corner of one of the throw pillows when he slid my panties off and went to work with his tongue and teeth and fingers.

To say he was obviously an expert is an understatement. Whatever he knows sex shops should sell but then maybe women wouldn't need any other men. He worked me to the point of exhaustion, making me cum over and over until my body felt boneless, until my throat was raw from screaming and I could feel my own juices running down the inside of my thighs.

There was a point to all of his special favors, which I came to understand out when he stripped for me. I know my mouth just sort of dropped open and as pretty as the rest of his rock hard, athletic body looked, there was only one thing I could look at and I couldn't stop staring at it.

"Oh my god." You hear about them, maybe even see them in porn flicks but when you actually see one up close and personal, it's a little intimidating. I think I even whimpered.

"Voyez-vous quelque chose que vous aimez ma petite?" he asked with a brash grin that on its own would have made me weak at the knees. As it was I was glad to be lying on the bed. Had I been standing I would have stumbled.

"Oh Jeezus, just…be careful with that," I muttered and watched him ease his way onto the bed and in between my thighs. We both watched as he gradually, inch by thick stiff inch, screwed his enormous dick into me. I watched it disappear inside my snatch with a certain sense of wonder but mostly with disbelief and then I moaned like a good porn star, threw back my head and begged him to do it again. He chuckled, grabbed my knees, pulled them up over his impressively wide shoulders and happily obliged.

"I hope you know, I am ruining you for every other man," he told me, lifting my hips right off the bed so he could find a deeper angle, impossibly I thought, to fill me even more. I gasped and bit down on my bottom lip.

"Oh I don't know you might have to work at that," I smirked, or tried to and he laughed.

"As you wish," he grinned, lowered me to the bed and reached for my hand, the one that had been playing with his chest hair. With his bigger hand locked around my wrist he pinned it to the pillow behind my head and then reached for my other hand and did the same. Thus pinned all I could do was look up at him as he grinned down at me and proceeded to make long, slow thrusts each and every one stealing my breath.

I didn't know where to look. His eyes were too dark, too intense and his body was long and lean and muscular and beautiful and what I wanted right then was not to think, not to look into anyone's eyes. What I realized I wanted, more than anything right at that moment, was to be fucked hard and fast and preferably with my face pressed into a pillow.

There was just one little problem with what I wanted; his weapon scared me.

"I want you to fuck me," I squeaked, forcing myself to say it. Max stopped moving and looked down at me.

"I am?" he said, managing to look entirely dejected, as if I'd just told him that his dick was too small or his dog had died.

"No I mean...really...just _give_ it to me," I said through clenched teeth and feeling the heat rise into my face when I said it. His pouty face transformed all at once and a wicked grin spread across his handsome face and then I really squeaked as he let go of my wrists, grabbed me around the waist and rolled me over.

"As you wish," he purred into my ear, nudging my knees apart with his own. I bit down on the corner of a pillow as I felt the head of his long, hard length stabbing at my entrance and then yelped as he slammed into me all at once. I heard him grunt and then swear in French.

"Mon Dieu," he sighed and then gave my left ass cheek a slap. "This is going to be fun," he added and then, with his big hands and long fingers digging into my waist he gave me the rollicking I needed to forget that Higgy had shot me down in flames.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

The heat woke me long before the scheduled call from the front desk.

I found myself snuggled in between two very large, very WARM bodies and had no actual desire to move despite the sheen of sweat that had me practically glued to Dan Hamuis's broad back. Much the way Keith Ballard was pasted to mine.

"You get the first shower," Dan mumbled groggily, addressing the furnace behind me. "Get up,"

"Mmmph." Keith's arm tightened around my waist and his lips tickled the back of my neck when he spoke. "Don't wanna. Too comfy. You go."

I really couldn't blame him. I knew _I_sure as hell didn't want to go anywhere.

"You're closer to the door," Dan explained as if that was all the reasoning required to make the decision.

Which apparently it was since Keith sighed heavily, pressed a kiss to the side of my neck and hauled himself out of the bed.

The cool air hit my back like an arctic breeze, making me shiver, and Dan rearranged us, rolling onto his back so that I was tucked into his side, our fingers laced on his stomach and my cheek pressed to his chest. His head popped up to check the clock on the nightstand and then he was relaxing again, one hand warm on my back beneath my sleep shirt. "Ten more minutes Sugar."

I nodded and felt him press his lips to the top of my head before he slipped back into a doze.

I could have used the time to get a bit more rest myself but instead I lay awake and tried to process this latest turn of events.

The boys continued to surprise the hell out of me.

As much as it might not have looked it to anyone who didn't know the two men in my room had they walked in right now, what was going on here was no more than an innocent puppy pile, a sleepover. They were the guys who missed their wives on the road and I was no more than a warm body pillow to snuggle up against.

Nothing like the workout Lappy had put me through the first night; to the point where I had taken to sitting very gingerly the following day. He'd seen it as quite an accomplishment every time he saw me wince and then blush with remembered pleasure his chest puffed out and he grinned like he'd just scored a goal.

Hank had frowned throughout breakfast and then cornered me before getting on the bus for their morning skate. "You okay?"

It took me a moment to realize exactly what he was asking and then another moment not to let my jaw drop when I clued in. "Oh! Um...yeah. Yes. I'm fine."

His blue eyes narrowed dangerously and I fleetingly wondered why other players weren't more afraid of him on the ice. Not that I had any fear of him personally but I was a little worried for Max when his captain's gaze caught the whisker burn at my throat. "He wasn't supposed to _break _you," he muttered darkly.

"He didn't, I _promise_." Hoping to reassure him I gave one of those thick biceps a squeeze."I promise you, Henrik, Max was a perfect gentleman. At least right up until I begged him not to be," I added with a wink.

Those ice blue eyes flashed quickly with _heat_ and then he was stepping closer, lowering his voice as not to be overheard. "You wanted to...for him to be... _hard_ on you?"

Well hell, when he said it like that, it almost sounded kinda bad. But it wasn't. "Um," I made a face and tried not to sound like a colossal whore. "Not all the time? I just - the guys are great but they need to understand that I'm not going to break. I'm not going to get mad and make them sleep on the couch if they get a little rough sometimes. Y'know?"

Hank nodded but was focused on the wall at my back. "You do have the option to say 'no' sometimes."

Hmmm. That _was_ good to know. Not that my newly discovered tendencies towards full blown nymphomania were about to let me do that any time soon. "I'm a lot tougher than I look," I grinned impishly and when he rolled his eyes I nudged him with my shoulder. Since the man was a granite slab of muscle, I nearly bounced right off of him, just like a lot of opposing defensemen do but he steadied me with a firm hand on my hip. "Hey, I can take care of myself. Why do you think I've been taking it easy and just having my cuddle buddies overnight, huh?" He looked thoughtful and then tilted his head to the side. It was as much agreement as I was going to get, so I took it.

"You'll tell me," he said firmly, "if anyone gets out of hand or plays too hard, you'll tell me." It wasn't a request. I understood and nodded my agreement. Hank nodded back once and then looped an arm around my waist, leading me toward the lobby. "Was it good?"

I nearly got whiplash trying to see his face. "You mean with Lappy?"

He ducked his head a bit and redness crept up his neck as we walked. I nearly cackled with delight. Every day I was learning more about the boys and what made them tick - and it was becoming more and more fun to try and deliver. Hank in particular was going to be fun.

"It was _very _good," I purred, dropping the pitch of my voice to something huskier and more intimate. "You want to hear everything he did to me Hank? What he did to make me moan? Make me scream? Make me beg?"

Henrik groaned and gave my waist a squeeze as his hand flexed. "You already figured out the answer to that one, I'm sure."

Of course I had. Just as he was aware that I wouldn't tell him any of what Max and I had actually done. I wasn't going to kiss and tell, the same way the boys wouldn't compare notes after being with me. But if Hank wanted a naughty bedtime story I'd gladly make something up to please him, and, of course, myself.

"Tonight?" I asked, probably sounding too eager. They were going to be keyed up after the game, win or lose.

"Not tonight," he said, shaking his head. "And other than anything immediate at the arena, you're off limits until tomorrow night at the earliest. Spend tonight with Hammy and rest up."

"WHAT?" I squawked. "But I'm fine!"

He smiled ruefully and gave my ass a light tap. "Humor me."

* * *

You know that rule of thumb, the one that says players can't have sex before a game? Well it turns out that, for the most part, is an old wives tale. Oh some of the players strictly adhere to it, mostly the older players, maybe because they have to save their energy. That doesn't mean that there's some kind of wild gang bang orgy in the dressing room but there's a couple of guys, Kess and Juice, who don't play as well unless they fight over me. It's not bad for a girl's ego either. The equipment guys aren't always thrilled to have to give up their office though.

Kev had won this particular round and he was wearing the cat that got the canary grin as he joined the pre-game kick around in the hallway while I slumped against the concrete wall, my legs unable and frankly unwilling to support my weight. I watched the guys in their t-shirts and shorts and told myself that I was really enjoying my job though I was actually feeling a bit miffed at Hank for forbidding me from getting anything but cuddled tonight.

"So who's your favorite?" I hadn't heard her come down the hall but when I glanced at the woman who was leaning against the wall next to me there was no doubt in my mind who she was, especially with soft sky blue cashmere sweater that clung to her generous, and to my eye, store bought curves and practically begged to be petted.

"I don't have one," I replied honestly. It wouldn't have been fair to pick favorites. I hadn't had them all yet.

"Oh c'mon," she nudged me playfully in the ribs and tossed her blonde ringlets over her shoulder, "you can tell me."

"No, honestly, how could I pick? It's like a desert buffet," I smiled, watching Higgy balance the soccer ball on the ball of his foot, which made his calf muscles flex and his thighs strain against the thin fabric of the compression shorts he was wearing. I licked my lips and hoped that I'd get a taste of him soon.

"I think we're the luckiest girls in the league," she said and when I glanced back at her she had her head tilted to one side and was checking Eddie's ass. I followed her gaze and took a minute to appreciate the same view.

"The specialists?" I asked and she laughed and shook her head.

"No, just me and you. Don't you think we have the hottest teams by far?" she asked, licking her lips as the Prince of Denmark headed a ball to Danny.

"I don't know...I hadn't given that much thought," I replied, knowing full well who was on her team and exactly how good looking several of them were but it just felt disloyal to even think of any of the Hawks players like that. They were the enemy. My boys, because that's how I thought of them now, were about to go out and do battle with them and there would be bruises and cuts to nurse later because of it not to mention battered egos if we lost.

"Please, are you trying to tell me that you don't think Jonathan Toews is hot?" she said in this kind of conspiratorial tone, like we were friends. I shrugged.

"He has his good points I guess," I replied nonchalantly.

"Well don't tell him that when I introduce you," she snorted, pushing off from the wall and looked at me expectantly. This hadn't happened in St. Louis but I shrugged and started to follow her down the hall, at least until a big hand with big fingers dug into my shoulder.

"Where are you off to?" I turned and looked into Higgy's blue eyes, wariness in his features that I immediately wondered came from a history of cops in the family.

"Just showing her around," the young woman replied, openly ogling him, especially when he lifted the hem of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. "I'm Bridgette, the boys call me Budgie," she cooed, offering her hand. He looked down at it, like he didn't know what to do with it and then finally made up his mind to shake it, except she pulled him closer and wound herself around him like a cat making figure eights around your legs when you come home from work. "You can call me whatever you want handsome," she purred in his ear.

I wanted to claw her eyes out. I wanted to pull her off of him by her perfect curls and punch her teeth down her throat. I managed, just, to restrain myself though I crossed my arms and bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from even saying anything like '_stop being so obvious you stupid slut_'. I reminded myself that I was the pot and she was the kettle and I was currently living in a great big glass house.

"Well, _Bridgette_," he began, uncoiling her from around him like she was a piece of someone else's well chewed gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe, "don't take our Penny too far huh? Make sure she's in the stands for the game. She's our good luck charm." I beamed at him. I couldn't help it. He was being all white knight and I wanted to hug him but I just stood there, grinning, instead.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," Bridgette purred as if she hadn't just been picked up and unceremoniously dropped off the couch, unwanted, "I'll took super good care of her." She hooked her arm in mine and began to drag me away. I glanced over my shoulder and was grateful to see all the boys standing watching me go. I gave them a little wave, hoping they'd know I could look after myself.

I was almost wrong.

Bridgette took me through a stainless steel door emblazoned with their logo to the Hawk's players lounge, and asked me to sit on an overstuffed black leather couch while she went through a wooden double door and into the din beyond. It only took a minute for the door to open and for Bridgette to reappear with the hulking Jonathan Toews behind her. He smiled, a lop-sided boyish grin, and offered his hand. I expected him to shake mine, but he lifted it to his lips instead.

"Soooo I wasn't sure," he began, putting a hand possessively on Bridgette's ass, "I didn't think The Sisters did this kind of thing."

"Thing?" I asked, crossing my arms again, hating the greedy way he was looking me over.

"Yeah, the trade thing. I mean, I got that the last chick had some sort of thing with Babwa," he scoffed and he and Bridgette both rolled their eyes, "but I know it's, y'know, the Captain's prerogative or whatever to do the trade and I just thought..."

"_Wait_," I snapped, holding up my hand to stop him from going any further. The small hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end and I was getting a distinctively nauseating feeling in my stomach. "Are you suggesting...do you think I came here to...with _you_?" I looked him over and despite all of his impressive muscles the only thing I could see was the Indian Head logo in the middle of his chest and the green and blue blood in my veins ran cold.

"Well yeah, that was the general idea," his smile grew and his chest puffed out.

"No," I said immediately, backing away. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding but that is definitely _not_ going to happen."

I didn't wait for a reaction. I turned on my heel and went out the door I came in. I didn't go back to the visitor's dressing room. I didn't want to be a tattle tale and I didn't want the guys to see me frazzled like this. What I needed now was a beer and the invisibility being in a crowd could provide.

* * *

I replayed the fight in my mind as I ran down the stairs towards the visitor's dressing room. It had been the same sort of chippy, fast paced game it always seemed to be with the Hawks but just when The Nucks had started to make headway, when Kane had taken a totally irresponsible penalty in our end, Higgy had done something equally reckless; he'd dropped his gloves.

There had been a face off in the Hawks end with Kess facing off against Toews. The two center's sticks clashed and Kess got a warning from the linesman. When they faced off again Toews practically dove into the circle before the puck was even dropped and was promptly tossed from the circle. While Hossa glided in Toews lined up beside Higgy, their heads bent close together and then the next thing me and everyone else in the stands saw, Higgy was tossing his gloves and stick aside and was reaching for the strap on his helmet.

Personally I was thrilled. I hadn't seen Higgy fight more than maybe once but I was hoping he'd break Captain Serious's nose for thinking that I would ever sleep with him. I mean, unless I got transferred there...god forbid. Much to my dismay but to the cheers of the crazed Hawks fans, their captain shook his head, like a big fucking pussy and declined the fight leaving Higgy standing there, his fists up, ready to go and looking foolish. Luckily for him Boland tossed his gloves and threw the first punch.

Unluckily for Chris the fight didn't go well. Boland, the rat faced lippy little fuck, was obviously far more used to scrapping. He threw two hay makers, one after the other, both connecting with Chris's jaw. The first snapped his head back. The second sent him to the ice.

I watched with dismay as our trainer hit the ice at a run, not waiting for any of our guys to help him across the slippery surface. I didn't count the seconds Chris stayed down on that ice but to me it seemed like an eternity until he shook off the trainer and even Kess's offer of a hand up as he got to his feet. The Hawks crowd didn't cheer as he skated slowly, head down, to the Canuck's bench; they jeered, whistled, cat called and booed.

I hated every last one of them.

The rest of the period seemed to take forever to play and the entire time I kept my eyes on the bench, waiting for Chris to reappear, my fingers plucking nervously at the hem of the skirt I was wearing, silently willing him to get his ass back on the bench. When the final buzzer sounded I was up out of my seat doing the hundred yard dash to the dressing room, only to be stopped by Manny returning from an interview.

"You know you're not supposed to go in there kiddo," he reminded me firmly but not unkindly. "Not with all the reporters and visitors." It stung to be reminded that there was a place I could not go, somewhere I was not welcome, but I retreated, but only an inch.

"I just want to check on Chris," I told him, pleading with my eyes, with my bottom lip. Manny gave me a half a smile but shook his head.

"Still can't let you in," he replied and put his hand on my shoulder as if it was any consolation.

"You don't want to go in there," a voice purred in my ear and I couldn't help but relax when I heard it. "It's not a good time, he's all...," Juice rubbed at one eye with his gloved hand, the way a kid would and stuck out his bottom lip. "He wouldn't want a girl to see him crying like...well _a girl_," he added with a smirk as he swatted my ass. I didn't believe for a minute that Higgy would cry, he was brought up in the Bronx by tough, tough dudes.

"I just want to know how he is and what that jackass said to make him want to take a swing," I growled, my hands curling into fists at the memory of the smug look on Toews' face when he thought I was actually going to sleep with him. Juice shrugged.

"Who cares? We slaughtered the fuckers. That's all I care about," he added and then strutted by me like he was the cock of the walk. I watched him walk into the dressing room, got a brief glimpse of half naked, sweaty bodies before the door closed behind him but not enough of a glimpse to know who was who and who was doing what.

"You can catch up with him later, on the bus," Manny suggested and patted my cheek affectionately, as if I was some little sister and not the team whore. I nodded, resigned, and turned to leave, only to see Chris coming out of the trainer's room, a bag of ice pressed to his jaw. His usually full bottom lip was inflated and split and he was already sporting a shiner that had one of his sky blue eyes swollen nearly shut.

"Higgy," I gasped, automatically reaching to touch his face. He flinched and pulled away.

"Don't,"

I frowned at him, arm still stretched out to make contact. "But...?"

"Just go," he muttered and started to go around me.

"Wait," I grabbed for the sleeve of his jersey. There was blood on it. "I just...well there's no use asking if you're okay but...I'm proud of you," I told him, offering a half smile. I was proud of anyone who was brave enough to drop the gloves but especially of Chris, who was more inclined to hold the others back while Juice or Romer threw down. He looked down at my hand and then up at me, his blue eyes looking less sunny sky and more stormy sea. Cold, remote.

"It was a stupid thing to do," he grumbled, sounding like maybe that was something Bones or Coach V had told him.

"Toews is such a puss, I can't believe he backed down," I added, hoping to cheer him up. He didn't smile, not even in his eyes. "What did he say to set you off?" I asked, leaning in, keeping my voice low so as not to be heard by a passing group of reporters.

Chris stared at me, with such sudden and unexpected hostility in his gaze that I lost my breath for a moment. "Jesus,"

The half mumbled curse came from lips thinned with disgust and he started to turn away. "Wait, Chris..."

"Let go," he glanced down at my hand holding his jersey tight and shook his head once. "Now."

"I just "

"Fuck, just get on the Goddamned bus Penny," he snarled, wrenched his arm free of my grasp and stomped away. I stared after him, feeling rejected yet again and I didn't like that it hurt. It hurt like he'd stuck a knife in my chest.

"His pride is bruised," a soft Swedish lisp whispered in my ear and a hand rested softly on the small of my back. "He didn't mean to snap." I wanted to argue but my tongue wouldn't work and my throat felt suspiciously tight. Hank's hand slid up my back until his arm circled my shoulder. "Why don't you take Eddie back to the hotel with you? We're not leaving until the morning," he suggested softly.

"But I thought you said...?" I looked up at him, confused, and he smiled down at me in a paternal kind of way.

"I know what I said but I can change my mind," he replied with a smile as he pulled me against him. "Wait here," he added, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, "I'll send Eddie out as soon as he's out of the shower."

* * *

"Holy hell!" I stared up at the ceiling, panting, sweat trickling down between my breasts, and a huge grin on my face. "How can you have that much energy after a game?" I gasped.

"Bones says I have good endurance and great breath control," Eddie answered, rolling onto his side and up onto his elbow, his other hand slipping down underneath the sheets and coming to rest, warm on the curve of my hip.

"I'll say," I panted, feeling boneless, breathless and utterly relaxed. I guess Hank knew what he was doing. A couple of hours ago I'd been coiled tight as a spring. Now, I knew, I couldn't have got up out of the bed even if the hotel was on fire.

"Plus," he added, with an elfin smile that never seemed to really get to be a grin, "we all seem to have extra energy after beating those guys. I bet some of the guys are out at a club right now dancing." I knew he was right as I thought of the big grins on Juice and Kess's face as they'd got off the bus and took a right towards a waiting cab. I'd kind of wanted to go but I wasn't sorry anymore that I hadn't.

"So who's the bigger rival now, the Hawks or the Bruins?" I asked. Eddie looked thoughtful for a minute and then shrugged.

"Maybe Boston, now, but we still like beating the Hawks," he replied decisively. "But something tells me, after tonight, when we play them in a couple weeks things might get a little...explosive," he added with a twinkle in his blue eyes that were nearly always the colour of calm seas. I waited for an explanation and searched his boyish features but they remained as they always did, enigmatic.

"What do you mean...explosive What's so different now?" I asked, crawling over him and pinning him to the bed. He smiled and put his hands around my waist, his body already stirring beneath me. He was good, better than good, but his words had me curious and I wasn't exactly in the mood. I ignored the way his dick pressed against my ass and stared down at him in the near dark. "Eddie?"

"Well no one disses a team's specialist. It's like...dissing your little sister. Higgy couldn't let him get away with it but Captain man-child wouldn't fight so...we'll have to keep trying to get him to step up so he can take a beating for it." I stared down at him, trying to decipher what he'd just said.

"Toews dissed me? _Me_?"

"Yeah...I mean...I thought you knew," he replied, looking genuinely puzzled. "He said you turned down the trade and I think he called you frigid or an ice maiden or something like that," Eddie explained and then screwed up his face. "You didn't know?"

"No," I sighed, climbing off of him and moving to sit on the edge of the bed. I felt like all the wind had been knocked out of my sails but at the same time a little fire burned in my belly. Chris had tried to fight Toews. For _me_. Chris had fought Bolland. _For _me. "He stood up for my honour," I said out loud but to no one in particular.

"Hey I hit Kane pretty good," Eddie pointed out, his hand sliding comfortingly up my back.

"Yeah you did," I smiled at him after a moment, acknowledging the efforts he'd made during the game as well. Turning, I crawled back under the covers and curled up next to him. "Yeah, you did."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As an only child, living with the team, especially on the road was like being adopted into a family of boys; a big, boisterous, fun loving bunch of older and younger brothers. When I got home, back to my new apartment I didn't know what to do with myself. Without roommates to greet me, the place felt too big, too quiet and it didn't take me long to miss them. I was on the verge of rearranging my closet for the tenth time when I got a text, from Kess.

_Boys night. Bring chips._

When I got there Sami, Hammer and Keith were in the kitchen but when I offered to help with prep I was instructed to drop my shopping bags and join the guys outside. Not being much for cutting wielding a paring knife, I did as I was told and headed out to the yard, beer in hand.

Most of the guys were horsing around with Sami's son Oliver, Hank's son Valter, Juice's son Cole and Grayson, Rome's son. The rookies, CoHo and Weise were valiantly taking part in a tea party on the deck and looked up hopefully as I passed them by but I did my best not to make eye contact and kept walking. I just did not feel like wearing a doily on my head and the last time I had a feather boa around my neck I wasn't wearing much else and I didn't think I should be thinking about that around Peppi and Gabriella.

I paused half way down the stairs to the back yard, trying to decide if I wanted to get into the game of tag with the boys when a high, ear piercing shriek of pure joy made me look down. Reese, Kev's daughter, was free falling towards Chris's outstretched arms, a gleeful grin on her cherubic little face that matched the delighted one aimed up at her. It was a sight that made my ovaries feel like they were about to explode. So much so that I actually dropped my hand down to cover my stomach, as if my fallopian tubes had developed to draw sperm from a distance.

"You want one of your own soon?" I looked over my shoulder to find the two goalies, Lou and his sidekick GingerLou watching me.

"Soon? Hell no," I replied quickly, taking a swig from the bottle in my hand. "At some point, muuuuch later, of course," I added before either one of them had a chance to call my bluff.

"You don't want to wait too long," Lou told me with a smirk, "you enjoy them more when you're young." I thought about saying something about missing out on a lot too, what with road trips, practices and such but decided to keep my mouth shut. Everyone seemed to be in such a good mood, there was no point in being a little black rain cloud at the picnic.

"Still, I think I'll wait a little while longer," I grinned and then headed down the stairs.

Reese was no using Higgy's hair as reins and calling him 'horsey', drumming her heels against his shoulders in an effort to make him gallop across the patio faster. His laughter made me grin. I couldn't help it, even if my ovaries were popping like cherry bombs.

"Here," Chris said breathlessly, bending and trying to slide Kev's daughter into my arms, "why don't you get Aunty Penny to give you a horsey ride?"

"No!" Reese screeched in that outside little girl voice that borders on ear drum splitting arterial vein popping pitch. "Higgy horsey! Go! Go fast!"

"Juice!" Chris called, wincing when Reese tugged a handful of his dirty blonde hair hard enough that some of it came out in her hand. She looked down at it, puzzled, and then tossed it aside and reached for another handful. "Juuuuuuuuice!" I hid a giggle behind my hand as I watched a big, tough hockey player flinch as Reece's little fists closed around clumps of his hair and pulled back. Kev took his time ambling over but the minute her big blue eyes focused on her father she let go of Chris's hair and reached out.

"Daaa Daaa!" she crooned happily as Kev lifted her from Chris's shoulders onto his own.

"Hey you little ruffian, wanna get a hot dog from Uncle Kess?" I watched them go, watched her little blonde curls bobbing as her father bounced her on his shoulders and smiled to myself. I'd like not one but maybe a half a dozen of those for myself.

"Better not let Katie see you drooling after her man like that." I turned and made a face at Chris.

"I wasn't actually looking at Kev," I corrected him. "I was looking at Reese. She's got to be the cutest kid ever."

"Sounds like someone's broody," he teased. I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and held his beer towards me. I clinked his with the neck of mine.

"I'm not planning on having one of those any time soon," I told him sincerely, and then, as more of an afterthought and because he looked particularly good in the well worn NYPD sweatshirt, "just practicing making them," I added a little playfully. His smile faded a little at the edges. I should have taken the hint but it was getting under my skin that he hadn't approached me yet. It was have a deleterious effect on my self esteem. "I hear you work really hard at practice." I waited for the smile, for the playful grin that comment would have gotten from any other guy on the team but he doesn't smile. In fact he looks away and I'm left staring at a tic in the corner of his jaw. "Jesus, I just asked a question," I mutter, my teeth clenching now. He hasn't yet, but I can feel the rebuke coming all the same.

"Can't you take the hint? I just don't want your..._services_, alright?" I'm watching that tic in the corner of his be-whiskered jaw, the quick, tiny spasm that suggests either anxiety or irritation. In this case I have no choice but to assume irritation...with me.

"Whatever, I'm not just for _that_," I remind him quietly. "I just hang out with some of the guys too you know. Shoot the shit. Play some x-box, watch a movie, eat some popcorn; it doesn't have to be more complicated than that but you don't have to treat me like something you just scraped off the bottom of your shoe with a stick Chris. I mean, just because I have this job doesn't mean I don't have _feelings_."

"Yeah well...I guess I can't even begin to understand how that works." My feelings, such as they are, are far more raw in this moment than they should be. I know that. I can hear Holly's warning in my head; '_don't let them get under your skin. Wear them like a second skin, but a skin you can wash off in the shower'_. Chris Higgins was under my skin, _waaaay_ under my skin, like a tick.

"That's not what I meant," he said quietly but with those cold, storm tossed waves in his eyes that were much more 'get lost' than 'stay and listen'.

"Yeah...of course it wasn't." I made myself meet his gaze and told myself that it didn't matter if one guy on the team thought I was no better than a ten dollar whore down on Quebec Street. I lifted my chin and did my best to show him that he couldn't wound me.

"Hey Higgy, we're getting a game going, you in?" I wanted to hug Lou in that moment and I had rarely felt any warm feelings to the usually aloof goaltender but as I watched Chris turn and jog towards the house while Bobby Lou made a show of expertly shuffling a deck of cards, I even blew him a kiss.

"What was all that about?" Kess asked, appearing at my elbow as if out of nothing and nowhere. I considered pretending I didn't know what he was talking about and then decided that it would make me feel better to push Chris under the proverbial bus.

"Your teammate is a dink," I replied with a smile. Kess tilted his head like a mina bird and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh..._aaaaand_?" I took a sip of my beer, which was now warm and not at all tasty and considered whether or not to back the bus up and take another pass.

"He doesn't like me, I guess, or, more specifically, my job." I batted my eyelashes and did my best ingénue routine. When Chris had been standing right here, looking down his nose at me, I'd wanted to cry but now, when I wanted sympathy, I was too angry to squeeze out a single, solitary tear. The vague smile that had been on Ryan's face a moment ago transformed immediately into that 'I'm going to beat your ass into submission' look he gets out on the ice when someone's slashed him across the hands. A little shiver ran down my spine.

"Well we'll fucking see about that," he growled but as he started to step away from me I chickened out and grabbed his arm.

"Oh please Ryan don't," I said quietly, realizing that Juice and Hank were watching us and would, without a shadow of a doubt, join in on the Higgens beat down if Kess told them to. "He'll come around...probably." Ryan's mouth was still pressed into that angry line and I sighed and leaned against him, petting his chest coquettishly. "It's not like everyone has to like me, right?" It was beneath me and I didn't like doing it but I didn't like the idea of world war three breaking out over...well...just my pride being hurt. Team camaraderie was at stake and that was much more important than my feelings getting hurt.

"Just say the word," Kess whispered, wrapping me up in a protective bear like hug. "Say the fucking word and I'll bash his brains in." I knew he would too and I did feel a little better.

"Promise," I whispered.

"Cuz I give great advice," he told me, his cocky grin reappearing.

"Yeah well...I think I'd rather get advice from someone who can run a barbeque without charring everything," I teased. He laughed and kissed the top of my head.

"Okay," he smiled and then took away the special protective shield his body afforded. "Who wants to lose some fucking money around here?"

* * *

The little ones were all down for a nap upstairs and the WAGs weren't due back from their spa day for another couple hours yet. CoHo, Raymond and Weise were gossiping while they cleaned up and picked over the left-overs. Kev had declared me bad luck after he'd lost a hand while I sat on his lap so I was wandering aimlessly around the house looking for something to occupy my brain so I didn't obsess on the fact that Chris had shot me down in flames, _again_. I'd thought about leaving, of course, but I'm not much good at quitting and running away just seemed like letting him win, so I'd stayed.

I was about to give in and join the ping pong tournament in the basement, or at the very least go and cheer Burr on in his attempt at beating at least one of the twins when I found Grizz examining some of the memorabilia in Kess's office. As I watched him pick up a stick from the rack to study the signature more closely a plan began to form in my head.

Hank had warned me about our newest addition, that he was a good Christian boy and that I shouldn't offer my 'services' as Chris had called them, unless Booth approached me first. None of us wanted to offend our blue eyed American boy but right at this moment my ego needed a boost more than I cared about offending his sensibilities.

"All by yourself?" I purred, crossing the carpet to the desk and perching on it. "Not joining in on the big stakes poker game?"

"I don't gamble," David replies with that slightly crooked easy going grin of his that makes it hard for me to remember that he likes to kill and eat Bambi.

"Ah…and ping pong?" I ask, running my finger along the scroll work on the edge of the desk. His gaze follows my finger.

"Those guys are too intense about it. If they were just having fun, maybe, but they've got their own paddles," he adds with a mock shudder. I laugh, maybe a little too loud but his grin gets bigger, which is all I'm aiming for.

"And not interested in doing the dishes either eh?" I ask with a wink and it's his turn to laugh. "So then," I say quietly, running my bare foot up the inseam of his jeans, "I guess we're all on our own." He swallows, audibly and for a minute I almost feel sorry for him, but even as I tell myself that it's too easy I'm already pulling him towards me by his belt loops and biting down on my bottom lip while I aim him my best 'come hither' look at him.

"Uh…yeah, I guess," he mumbles and turns red to the tips of his ears.

"What will we think to do?" I coo at him as I run my hands up under his faded American Eagle t-shirt. He's all solid washboard abs and smooth, warm skin and he leans into my touch like I'm a magnet and he's got no more power to stop moving towards me than a paperclip.

"Not play hangman?" he laughs nervously and I grin up at him as I run my palms over the tiny solid buds of his nipples. He shudders involuntarily. Hook. Line….

"I was thinking of another game I like to play," I whisper, right before pushing his shirt up to his collarbones so I can flick my tongue over his nipple, making him moan out loud.

"What…what game is that?" he asks and I have to give him credit for having the ability to try and talk as I unbutton the fly on his jeans.

"The game where we see if we can be very, very quiet," I whisper against the sharp line of his jaw as I slide the last button of his 501's free but as I begin to slide my hand beneath the waist band of his tightie whities he grabs my wrist in and stops me.

"Wait," he says breathlessly. I curse inwardly, thinking he's going to say something like he's a virgin and this would be his first time but with his other hand he cups my face and presses his lips over mine in a soft, almost chaste kiss. "Will you pray with me first?" I stare into his robin's egg blue eyes and bite back my first 'are you crazy' response. It's sweet, really and at this point, as long as he doesn't turn me down I'm just about willing to do whatever he asks.

So we get down on our knees, right there beside Kess's desk and he bows his head and does some kind of our father and then he reaches for my hand and holds it in both of his.

"Heavenly father I want to thank you for the blessing of this woman and the tender mercy she provides out of the goodness of her heart and I ask you to send your holy spirit into our hearts and help us share this moment in the spirit of openness and truthfulness and help our physical union to be good and worthy of your name in Jesus name we pray." I consider pointing out that I'm being paid but this feels sort of off the clock even if it is a team function so I decide against it and just smile at him when he raises his gaze to meet mine. "Ready?" he says, like this is a time for _on your mark, get set_ but as we get to our feet he lets go of my hand and slides one up my sweater and the other down the front of my jeans and my brain fizzles as I whisper '_go'_ against his mouth.

Okay so not so 'white bread' I think as his tongue duels mine and he shoves two fingers up inside me, while his body presses me against the edge of the big wooden desk. I tell myself to remember later to ask his forgiveness for thinking that I'd be the one popping his cherry, that I'd be making his night. Instead I was trying to dig my nails into the top of the desk and holding on for dear life while he made me cum not once but twice with just his hand. Then, when my legs were already doing their impression of the funky chicken, he turned me around, tugged my jeans down to my knees, bent me over Kess's desk and made me howl at the moon.

* * *

I grinned to myself as I wobbled down the driveway in the dark. Some of the guys had left already but there were still spaces between the cars where I had to turn sideways to get through. I was digging through my purse for my keys and my iPod and thinking of grabbing some ice cream on my way home when a voice floated out of the darkness.

"Do you have _any _shame at all?" I stopped, mid step, and looked up. Chris was leaning against the hood of my Mini, his arms crossed over his chest, looking delicious in faded jeans that were frayed at the seams and strained across his massive thighs. My fingers twitched with the desire to run my fingertips over the stubble on his cheeks. I looked around to be sure he was really talking to me. Not like I didn't know it, but I still hoped that maybe he was pissed with someone else for a change.

"What did I do now?" I sighed, putting my keys into the palm of my hand and letting them dig into my skin.

"Like you don't know," he grumbled, rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Well I guess not, so you better tell me," I challenged. He snarled and looked disgusted.

"You just had to make sure that everyone knew exactly what you were doing, had to make sure we all heard you moaning and screaming like a porn star," he hissed. The small hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. He looked disgusted but there was something...else, in his eyes when he looked at me that made my knees give, just a little.

"Jealous much?" I purred, taking the few steps necessary to get past him to the passenger door on my car. I opened it and tossed my purse and my ruined panties inside.

"If I was I'd do something about it," he whispered into my ear, the heat of his body so close to mine it was like a touch, like his fingers were already stroking my heated skin. I trembled. The air around us snapped like it does on a hot summer night when an electrical storm is on its way.

"Then why don't you?" I dared him, my hand still on the car door. I didn't look at him. I couldn't. If I did he'd see right through me, see how much I wanted him to do something about it and I didn't want to give him that much satisfaction.

"Because I have standards," he responded arrogantly and suddenly the air cooled around us.

"Or because you can't?" I argued, trusting myself to allow myself to look at him now that we were back to him basically calling me a ten dollar whore. "Is it broken?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from my tongue as I held up my little finger and then bent it, tipping my head to the side and making a pouty face.

It happened quicker than I could blink. One minute there was a foot of space between us and the next there was none. His body pressed mine against the side of my car and there wasn't room to pass a sheet of paper between us.

"If I did, you'd scream louder than you did for Booth. You'd scream so loud the neighbors would call the cops." If I'd have been wearing panties in that moment they would have spontaneously combusted. As it was I had to fight the urge to press my lips against the sneer on his handsome face.

"You're all talk," I told him, keeping my expression as blank as I could, letting my top lip ride up just a bit.

"I wouldn't do it around the rest of the guys, they'd know I ruined you for all of them," he growled at me. It was so hard not to kiss him, his lips so close to mine I could taste wine on his breath.

"Promises, promises," I countered. His nostrils flared and the grip he had on my upper arms tightened. They'd be able to take fingerprints from my skin.

"You know why I won't?" he asked, heat, desire and rage burning behind his blue eyes. I shook my head. "Because you want it to so bad it's pathetic." I raised my eyebrow.

"What's wrong with liking sex Higgy? I mean, fuck, even the good little Christian boy likes to fuck once in a while. What are you so scared of?" I countered. "That you might like it?"

"No," he hissed and then smiled a Joker smile that would have made Heath Ledger jealous, "that _you _would, too much." I blinked. I did, I blinked first and that cruel smile grew and it felt like a knife being turned slowly in my back.

"Why are you being so...nasty to me?" I asked in a voice that sounded small to my own ears. "You were there when I was recruited. If you hate what I am so much why didn't you walk up to me and say something then?" I pleaded. His wide shoulders lift and lower as he sighs and his gaze searches mine as if he's trying to make up his mind whether or not to tell me and then he shrugs.

"Because she got there first. I was going to buy you a drink and she got there first." I gasp, out loud and that cruel smile comes back. I feel tears filling my eyes, making them burn and then he leans in and my eyes close and for a brief shining moment I think he's going to kiss my cheek "It could have been different but...I don't share," he whispers in my ear. "Now go home and take a shower, you smell like other men."

I don't open my eyes until I feel the heat of his body dissipate and the cool night air surrounding me once more and the heat of tears on my cheeks.


	7. Chapter 7

_Seems you're like this story, for which I'm glad because it's fun to write but I'd love to hear more than just that you like it. Which guys do you like the best?  
_

_Uh.. about this chapter... it HAD to be done. Excuse me while I run for cover. _

**Chapter 7**_  
_

I'd lost track of the time but it was probably much later than any of us should have been out considering the insanity of the road game schedule.

Whatever I'd been drinking had me floating enough that I didn't really care where we were or how we got here. The air was close around us and the design of the space we were in was as intimate as the heavy bass vibrating from the hidden speakers.

I was sitting sideways on Cory's lap, only half paying attention to the conversation he was engaged in with some guy from another team who was laughing heartily at whatever Ginger Lou was rambling about. I really had no idea what the hell they were talking about, goalies were… different… and half the time that they tried to make me laugh I just ended up patting them on the cheek and then wandering off in an attempt to get those minutes of my life back somewhere else.

Really, I should probably stop drinking. Of course as soon as that thought drifted through my fuzzy head a fresh drink was pressed into my hand. Slowly I glanced around and saw the outline of Kess's back as he moved further away and knew he was responsible. At least I didn't need to worry about being drugged by some random stranger. None of the boys would ever have to resort to such a tactic with me; in the month I'd been with them I think they understood every wish of theirs was my command.

Absently I wondered if I could find a Genie costume at a discounted rate since Halloween was long over. The thought of parading around dressed like Barbra Eden made me chuckle since arenas were not exactly the warmest places on earth and they seemed to be where I spent most of my time. Perhaps it was something I should mention to Holly, though. Maybe specialists should have uniforms – sexy little numbers in their team's colors.

Of course my alcohol compromised brain decided that I should call Holly _immediately_ to share my brilliance and I leaned back, reaching for where I figured my purse should be, only to nearly flip myself right off my human chair. Cory caught me easily with his superhuman reflexes, laughing and set me upright again.

Whatever he said to me was lost in the music and I just shrugged at him and looked around for a fresh source of amusement since whatever idea had prompted me to attempt a back-flip dismount was already long forgotten.

Cory had returned to his conversation so I returned to my drink, inordinately proud of myself for not spilling a drop. The liquid was cool in my throat, a delicious contrast to the heat in the room. I raised my head and there, directly across from me, was my new entertainment.

Chris was sitting at the back of the long table, head cocked to the side, staring at me as he toyed with the label on the beer in front of him. We weren't really that far apart, the VIP section we'd taken over wasn't very big, but there was no chance of conversing over the level of noise. Though to be honest, there wasn't much he could tell me with words that he wasn't saying with his eyes.

His gaze held mine long enough for me to get the point that he was genuinely trying to express an actual message.

Despite my buzz, I could read him loud and clear.

He lowered his eyes to my mouth and they narrowed slightly when my tongue came out to wet them. I could feel his gaze lingering there almost as if it was an actual kiss, could _feel_ the way his lips would move across my jaw and my head tipping back a fraction as the sensation slid down the side of my neck.

My breathing came quicker and I shifted on the perch of rock hard muscle beneath me, Cory's arm a secure weight around my waist, making sure I didn't make another unwise attempt to pitch myself to the floor. It's a good thing. I wasn't far off making a leap onto the table in front of us.

Actually… the idea had merit.

But then those sexy sky blue eyes were back on my mouth again, another kiss, another sweep across my lips that were parted softly to receive it. He blinked slowly, his lids heavy and the caress moves further south, along the ridge of my collarbone, pausing at the point where I'm sure my pulse was visibly demonstrating the effect his attentions were having on my heart rate.

Then his gaze dropped lower and as sure as if his fingers were making the journey instead my nipples were suddenly solid points of acute aching. Everything inside of me was clenched tightly at the imagined pleasure of Chris touching me, the roughness of his calloused hands exploring the softness of my skin.

I rubbed my thighs together, shifting against the _want_ that has my pussy literally throbbing and he was only fucking _looking_ at me.

His jaw clenched as I moved, obviously recognizing my action and his eyes were roving again. It isn't until I let _my_ eyes stray that I realize his hand was wrapped around the bottle in front of him, his fingers loosely gripping the glass, sliding slowly up the neck and then back down to the base.

Holy shit.

I watched him do it three times before I could tear my gaze away. His lids were half lowered but he was so in tune with everything he was doing to me that he caught every hitch in my breath, every flutter of my lashes, and every time I swallowed reflexively as his thumb brushed the mouth of that damned bottle.

My hips rolled and his head fell back against the wall behind him, his eyes clenched tightly shut for just long enough for me to feel deprived. But then they opened again, and beside the obvious heat, there was something new, something I'd never seen from him before.

Acceptance, appreciation and, finally, temptation.

He released the bottle and his hands slipped out of view below the table. I knew without question what he was doing just as plainly as I knew in five seconds I was going to be on the other side of the table doing it for him.

The music changed, it was louder, the lights were suddenly brighter and if I could only get my goddamned legs to hold me, I was going to take Chris up on the invitation still telegraphed as clear as a billboard in Times Square.

But the music was getting louder still, no longer a sexy vibration through the air but a sharp, shrill, tinny rendition of a song that was seriously overplayed, or at least, it had been back in the early 90's when it had been a hit. Which was strange since I couldn't imagine a current DJ slipping it into the rotation of today's number ones. It was also a huge coincidence that I had programmed that same song into my phone as Ryan's ringtone since it suited him so well.

I found myself glancing around to see him and was shocked to find no one else there. Even Cory had managed to slip out from beneath me without my noticing; which was impossible.

Confused, I turned back and was relieved to see Chris still on the other side of the table but the volume of the music was increasing and I struggled to read his lips as he mouthed something at me.

"What?"

He smiled softly and shook his head, repeating the words.

"WHAT?" I tried again, trying to stand, trying to get closer to hear him.

Then Chris was suddenly there, right there, and his lips were pressed to my ear. "Penny, I... "

The music stopped unexpectedly and everything was quiet. I was instantly sober and Chris continued to smile as he lowered his head to mine...

I still had the image of his face in my mind when I woke abruptly to the sound of my cell phone announcing a text message.

_What the fuck_!

The adrenaline of being shocked awake quickly cleared the lingering sleep from my mind and flung out a hand to grab for the phone on my nightstand. I stared at it for a moment and then thumbed the screen into action where a message popped up instantly.

***_ANSWER YOUR DAMNED DOOR_!***

Kess.

I was gonna kill him. Only Ryan Kesler could interrupt the best sex dream I'd ever been in the middle of.

With a growl I threw my legs over the side of the bed and reached for the plush, oversized robe I'd left on the floor. The phone rang in my hand, Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" letting me know that he was calling _again_ and I answered it as I navigated the stairs to the lower level.

"What?" I hissed, nearly stubbing my toe as I reached the last stair.

"You sleep like the dead. Open the fucking door already, our arms are breaking."

I flipped on a couple of lights as I reached the front door since the winter weather had made the daylight darker than usual. I hadn't checked the time but it couldn't be _that _early, we'd arrived at the airport just after midnight and it had been a long exhausting trip.

I turned the lock and yanked the door open, glaring at the two idiots on the other side, my mood less than the friendly Penny they were used to. "This is a secured building. How the hell did you two get up here?" I didn't suffer mornings well.

Clearly unfazed, Ryan hung up the phone in his hand and shifted the box he was carting back into a manageable position. "The concierge is a fan." He jerked his head, motioning for me to step back. "Move."

He shouldered past me and Kevin followed behind, grinning wide, though he paused to steal a quick kiss. "Nice jammies."

Flustered I glanced down and realized my robe was open to reveal the tight tank top that was two inches shorter than the waist of the light pink boy-cut panties I'd worn to bed. I considered belting it tighter but figured remembered there was nothing they hadn't seen, and touched and tasted and fucked the stuffing out of, already.

The two of them went directly to the dining area to dump their goods on the table. I detoured to the kitchen and frowned when I realized I had forgotten to program the coffeemaker the night before. Damn it.

I had just finished filling the reservoir when strong arms came around me from behind and I relaxed back against the hard chest at my back. "Your timing sucks."

Kes hummed. "You on the rag?" His breath came out in a grunt when I elbowed him sharply and he released me with a grin on his face, reaching for the mugs in the cupboard. "Well I know you're not usually a ray of sunshine first thing but you're especially touchy today. I figured you're hormonal or something."

My eyes narrowed dangerously as I watched him. "Two things," I held up my fingers and counted off. "One; don't ever say that again. Two; don't _ever_ say that again."

He waved me off over his shoulder and I made myself comfortable on one of the stools tucked along the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Don't get me wrong, Kes, you know I'm good to go 24/7 but we literally _just_ got home."

"Uh-huh,"

"Sooooo?" I let the obvious question hang as he dug into the fridge for a carton of cream. He sniffed it cautiously and then shrugged as he deemed it still within the expiration limits.

"_'Sooooo'_, what?"

I sighed and tried not to be impressed when he found the sugar bowl without my assistance. "Soooo, what the hell are you doing here besides trying to get me killed by your wife?"

"She's not _that_ bad," he rolled his eyes and then grimaced when I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, she _is_ but I'm a grown man. I make my own decisions."

Faintly amused, I planted my elbow and propped my chin in my hand. "She kick you out?"

"As soon as she heard me tell Mikayla about the princess crown you bought her." He came over and braced himself against the opposite side of the island and hung his head with a chuckle.

I winced in sympathy and reached out, threading my fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I shouldn't have done that. I don't mean to cause any more trouble for you than you're already having." In all honesty I wasn't supposed to have any contact with any player's offspring but in the short time I'd been with the team I'd heard so many stories about all of their kids that I felt like I knew each and every one of them and couldn't help buying little trinkets that brought them to mind.

"Don't worry about it, Kess can handle Andrea," Juice said, appearing around the corner with a grin that was just a little too big, a little too happy and he had one hand behind his back.

"Whatchagot?" I asked, reaching for his arm but his professionally honed reflexes were too quick and he deftly danced out of my reach. "Kev...," I growled, a warning tone in my voice that had a little to do with not having had my coffee yet and a little to do with being so rudely yanked out of such a good dream.

"We saw you mooning over the stuff in that store in Carolina," Kess began.

"So we brought you some decorations," Kev finished for him and produced a sprig of mistletoe from behind his back and dangled it over my head. I looked up at the green leaves and white berries and then down at him and couldn't help but smile. "Merry Christmas Penny," he added more softly, reaching out to snake his arm around my waist and pull me against the solid warmth of his body. His lips poured over mine like warm maple syrup and I tasted chocolate and coffee on his tongue as it swept over mine.

"You went for coffee and didn't bring me any?" I whined and both men laughed,

"Yeah that's what Lou bought you that fuckin' expensive espresso machine for," Kess pointed out and then went back to making me something frothy and hot while Kev guided me to the table where he'd left his burden, a box overflowing with Christmas ornaments. I took a couple from the top, brand new, still in the box, shiny coloured glass balls.

"You guys shouldn't have," I sighed, taking the next box out, an old fashioned Father Christmas with a pipe in his mouth and tiny real looking metal rimmed glasses. "I don't have anything to put them on."

"No fake in the closet?" Kev asked, actually sounding crushed that he'd have nothing to hang them on immediately.

"No," I shook my head as I ran my fingers over the rosy cheeks of the elf with a tiny wooden hammer. "I never get a tree."

"No tree?" Kess almost shouted. I turned and shrugged.

"My family...we just didn't really do Christmas," I explained without going into the lurid details of how my parents, both tendered professors at UBC, didn't believe in telling their only child fairy stories or encouraging me to believe in a fabled jolly old elf who shimmied down the chimney once a year to fill a stocking.

"Well we'll fuckin' fix that," Kev snorted, reaching for his phone.

"Fuckin rights," Kess added, his thumbs already working on his phone, "one Christmas tree comin' right up."

* * *

I was worried my neighbors were going to call the cops we were making so much noise but I couldn't get the grin off my face as I watched the steady stream of guys arriving at my door. Someone's iPod was plugged in blaring carols that the guys were singing tunelessly along with and there was a fair amount of swearing and pounding as all the decorations started going up.

Ginger Lou had brought a wreath, a real one with fir boughs and holly with bright red berries that he was hanging on my door. Hansen had brought an angel mobile that he was hanging over the island which was pissing Mason off because he was rolling out dough and cutting sugar Christmas cookies out to bake. Hank and Danny were putting red and green tinsel garland on anything that didn't move and Eddie was putting together the tree stand.

"Will someone give those two assholes a call and see if they've gotten lost?" Hammer called out from the kitchen where he was pouring rum into mugs of eggnog.

"We did _not_ get lost," a voice called from the hallway. "Move Schneidie, make room." Everyone turned toward the sound of Lappy's voice but all we could see was the tip of a tree being shoved through the door.

"More to the left," another voice called from somewhere behind the tree and I felt a little thrill run up my spine. Chris.

"My left or your left?" Lappy snapped and I heard an irritated growl erupt from Chris's throat that sent another shiver straight down my spine and into my panties. I'd changed into a pair of jeans and the most festive sweater I owned, a red one with tiny white Christmas trees on it. I might never have "done" Christmas but I did have a few seasonal sweaters tucked away.

"Girls, girls, there's no need to fight," Kess chuckled as he got hold of the top of the tree and helped them guide it into the room and towards the tree stand that Eddie had only _just_ finished setting up.

"Well he wanted to buy a blue spruce and I said that she would want a grand fir and then he wanted a Charlie Brown tree because he thought her place wasn't big enough for this one," Lappy grinned proudly as they held the tree up while Eddie tightened the screws.

"No, left! Your _other_ left," Chris grumbled, aiming a thunderous look towards Max who just kept grinning at his teammate as if he didn't notice.

"You spent this _whole_ time looking for a tree?" Hammer asked, handing Chris a mug. Higgy sniffed at the contents and then, making a face, handed it back.

"_Someone_ didn't want to come out and play," Max tattled and every set of eyes in the room turned towards Chris, who looked sideways at me and then hung his head.

"I was tired," he mumbled. The grin I'd been wearing was immediately erased, like I'd been handed a cupcake that he'd just licked all the icing off of. I turned and headed into the kitchen where I didn't have to see him.

"Can I help?" I asked Macie. He looked up from carefully placing a star shaped cookie on a cooling rack. "I know I said I'm no good at baking," I added before he could say what was in his eyes, "I just need something to do right now." He narrowed his eyes at me but didn't question me further. As one of the guys in the doghouse with the coach Raymond had gotten pretty good at keeping his opinions to himself.

"You can mix the icing if you want," he offered, nodding his head towards a set of bowls with icing already in them. I frowned and he sighed. "Add the colour, mix it in," he explained slowly, like I was stupid and pressed a packet of food colouring into my hand. "A couple drops, _no more_," he added with a grumble, and then went back to carefully sliding his creations onto the cooling rack.

I did as I was bid and carefully mixed the colours until they were dark enough not to be pastel but not so dark that they looked like something from the Simpsons. Macie handed me a knife with instructions not to slather it on too thick but not to skimp either. I was grateful for the chance to keep my head down and my hands and mind occupied so I didn't have to watch Max and Chris arguing over the lights on the tree when it was so obvious that he didn't want to be here...didn't want to be near me.

I wanted to yell at him for ruining what had started to be a really perfect day. Being an only child that never had Christmas, having a bunch of brothers decorating my place had filled me with a girlish sort of happiness that felt like bubbles bursting in my chest but now there was just a lead weight sitting on it. The one guy I wanted to want to have here couldn't stand to be near me and as much as I tried to ignore it, I couldn't.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I groaned and rolled my eyes, aiming an unhappy look at Mason who didn't even look up from carefully cutting out his next batch of cookies.

"I'm not thinking about anything, just concentrating on this," I lied and he snorted.

"Yeah and I love having Coaching V tell me I'm useless," he grumbled, shaking a tree shaped piece of dough gingerly into the palm of his hand. "C'mon, you were all bouncy and singing carols and as soon as the tree shows up you go quiet. What gives?"

"You don't wanna know," I sighed, scooping more icing onto a cookie and then just taking a bite out of it. Mason looked up at me with his big blue eyes fringed by long dark lashes most women would kill for and levelled me with a stare that made it clear he wasn't going to let me get away with that. "Ok fine...Higgins hates me and it's really uncomfortable for me to have him here when he can't even look at me."

Mason turned and looked over towards the tree where Max was currently undoing a string that Chris had just finished tucking into the tree and tipped his head to one side. "Higgs is a really nice guy, I'm sure he doesn't hate you."

"He _does_ actually, told me so himself," I added, taking another icing filled bite.

"What did he say?" Macie asked, keeping his voice low as he cut out another cookie shaped like a snowman.

"Oh, y'know, that I'm a total slut and I disgust him," I paraphrased and Mason's hand slipped, the snowman's head came clear off.

"Fuck off," he hissed, grabbing the dough and wadding it up in a ball and before grabbing a rolling pin and beginning to smooth it out again. "I mean not all guys partake or whatever," he continued but then stopped and looked over at me. "Really?" I nodded and he shook his head. "Well that's fucking bullshit."

"Right?" I sighed, grabbed another cookie, slopped a bunch of green icing on it and then took a huge bite out of it.

"Well maybe he was just having a bad day." I stopped mid chew and stared at him. "Well it's possible right? I mean...take him a cookie, thank him for coming, it's Christmas, you never know." I opened my mouth to argue and then shrugged and slid my chair back, grabbed two cookies and took a deep breath.

"They're supposed to be deeper into the tree," Chris insisted and Max just ignored him and kept draping the lights near the edges of the branches.

"He's right," I agreed, standing beside Chris and holding a cookie out towards Max. "Why don't you let Higgy do that and come have a cookie?" Max grinned from ear to ear and stopped what he was doing immediately and reached for the tree shaped cookie.

"Thanks," Chris muttered and started to reach for the string of lights Max had just let drop to the floor.

"I have one for you too," I said, holding a star shaped cookie out toward him. He looked at the cookie and then away.

"No thanks," he muttered. I felt my heart sink.

"Eat a cookie Higs," Max growled. Chris ignored him and started to stuff the lights into the centre of the tree.

"I'm not hungry," he growled back.

"Eat the fuckin' cookie Higgins," Kess snapped, appearing at my side, his voice making it clear that there would be no argument.

"I said I'm _not_ fuckin' hungry," Chris snarled back and turned his gaze on the assistant captain. His eyes blazed the kind of white hot blue that looked dangerous.

"It's...it's okay," I stuttered and started to turn away but my exit was blocked by the twins who had silently come up behind me.

"No, it's definitely not," Hank said slowly and calmly but the expression in his blue eyes made it very clear if Chris thought he was going to argue with Ryan, the _captain_ was not going to be argued with. "Penny brought you a cookie, she iced it herself. This is her house. You should have one."

Chris's gaze faltered and then dropped but when he reached for the cookie his eyes met mine and he was less than happy.

* * *

"No, I can't...I'm going to explode," I groaned and pushed away the cookie being offered.

"Oh well, we can't have you no fitting into the elf costume at the kid's skate," Hank smirked and put the cookie back on the plate and settled back into the couch, his hand sliding up my leg and coming to rest just above my knee.

Everyone else had already left, the party had fizzled out pretty quick after the great cookie debacle, and I was being pampered back into good cheer.

"Elf costume?" I asked. Hank grinned in that way that made the lines around his ice blue eyes deepen.

"_Sexy_ elf costume," Danny added from my other side, pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder. I heaved a sigh.

"Oh great, because Andrea doesn't hate me enough," I groaned. The twins laughed in unison, like so many other things they did at the same time.

"You and Katie will look cute as Santa's little helpers," Hank promised with a wide grin. I raised an eyebrow.

"Cute? You think I'm _cute_?" I asked, running my foot up Henrik's thigh.

"Sometimes, ja," he replied, laughing and then squirming as he tried to scoot back and away from my questing foot, except there was nowhere to go. He was right up against the arm of the couch. The only place to go was the floor. Not that we hadn't been there already.

"Oh sometimes I'm cute?" I teased and then tossed the blanket we had draped over us onto the floor and crawled toward him. "And what am I the rest of the time?" I settled myself onto his lap and ran my fingers up over his perfect six pack, his pale skin coming up in gooseflesh wherever I touched.

"Beautiful," Danny said from behind me as he brushed my hair from the back of my neck and pressed his lips to my shoulder, the curve of my neck, the oh so sensitive spot behind my ear. I closed my eyes and leaned into Hank's arms, my mouth blindly finding his as he gently lifted me up over him, guiding my hands to his shoulders. I kissed him slowly, languidly as I lowered myself progressively down until I felt out bodies meet. Hank was perfect this way, the upslope of his cock slipping into me effortlessly from this angle, just as his brother's ruler straight cock screwed gently into me from behind.

I'd thought I wouldn't like it, that I wouldn't care for it at all. They'd proved me so, _so _wrong.

I gasped as I felt them sliding over one another inside of me. I whimpered when they began to slowly thrust in unison, their upswing and downswing a perfect match without a single instruction needed. All I needed to do was hold on. They would do the rest.

Danny's breathing would get shallow first but Hank's fingers would tighten on my thighs at the same time. I could feel our captain's heart racing beneath my fingertips and I could also feel his twin's pulse in his thigh as I reached back to hold onto him.

Danny's hand fisted in my hair and he dragged my head back to take my mouth just as Hank pushed up into me as hard as he could. I came, as I always did, just before them, crying into his mouth, my body shuddering around theirs and then, with a shared groan, they emptied into me, their supple muscular bodies bowing with release.

Sandwiched between them, cuddled so protectively, I tried to catch my breath with my cheek pressed to Hank's sweat dampened chest. I drifted off with a smile on my face, all thoughts of Chris tucked deep and far away.


	8. Chapter 8

_This is a looong ass but fun chapter I think. I've never really involved WAGs in my stories but we thought it would be fun_

**Chapter 8**_  
_

"Santa's a little handsy," I explained as I swatted Manny's hand away from my bright red skin tight short shorts for about the fourth time. "Other than that, I'm having a great time."

"Good. I was sorry that you were going to be stuck back here most of the time," Katie apologized as I balanced Cole on Manny's knee and leaned in to smile at the camera. "You have to try and get some time on the ice too," she added from her spot just out of camera range and far enough from Santa to keep her daughter from screaming blue murder. Reese was rubbing at her eyes, her round little cheeks bright red from crying. No amount of pleading could convince her to get on Santa's knee, not even when Manny pulled the fluffy white beard down to prove that she knew him.

"I'll try but I'm fine here," I promised, lifting Cole onto my hip and handing him a candy cane.

"You look great like that," Kev whispered in my ear. "You're a natural."

"If you weren't already taken Juice I'd be asking for a sample in a cup," I whispered back. Kev laughed and goosed me before taking Cole from me and tossing him high in the air. His blue eyed son squealed and begged his dad to do it again. I watched them head back towards the ice and sighed. I reached up to readjust my blue and green Canuck's floppy Santa hat when my head was very suddenly and painfully yanked backwards. "Ow!" I complained loudly, staggering backwards in hopes of not losing a handful of hair.

"What is this _whore_ doing here?" Andrea. Of course. "This is a family event. She's not supposed to be here," she complained loudly, a handful of my hair still in her claws. She gave it another yank for good measure and I whimpered.

"Andy, put the nice lady down," Kess growled at her. Not as threateningly as he would have had his daughter not been on his shoulders. Despite the pain and the awkward position she had me in, I smiled up at Makayla and she, in turn, beamed down at me.

"_I_ never got to come to this," Andy hissed, not at her husband but at me. I could feel her spittle warm and wet on my face as she glared at me.

"Maybe because you couldn't play nice," Ryan told her matter-of-factly as he, one handed, peeled her fingers from around my hair.

"I don't _want_ her here," Andrea whined in a tone that made me think that the American military should use her voice as a biological weapon.

"She has as much right to be here as you do." I knew the voice, I'd heard it in my dreams every night since I'd taken the position, despite the fact that he'd barely had a decent word to say to me and I couldn't believe the words had just come from his mouth. By the look on her face, neither could Andrea.

"Pardon me _newbie_ but she's not a WAG, even if you're all fucking her," Andrea sniffed and stuck her surgically corrected nose in the air. I felt about an inch tall until I felt a strong arm drape around my shoulder and could barely contain my disbelief when I saw that the arm belonged to Chris and not, as I'd first assumed, Kess.

"She's here at my request, okay?" he asked, that big easy smile of his that makings his blue eyes sparkle and the creases around his eyes deepen which made my knees weak despite the fact that I knew damn well he was only doing this to be the knight in shining armor and not because he meant it. Andrea looked down her nose at me and the expression in her eyes was clear as day. I may have won this round but she was determined that she was going to run me out of town as soon as she could.

With her nose still in the air and with a flip of her frosted hair, she turned and headed away with the stroller.

I watched her go, still feeling about an inch tall and having definitely lost the Christmas spirit. Chris's arm slipped from my shoulder and it immediately felt like as though someone had taken off my winter coat in the middle of an ice storm. I went from cozy and warm to cold and vulnerable.

"You should give your woman a little support man," Chris said quietly to Kess. I expected Ryan to argue but with a glance at the little girl with the pig tails on his shoulders he nodded and headed after his wife.

"Thanks," I said quietly, unable to look at him or the soft grey blue sweater that he was wearing.

"It wasn't so much for you. He spends too much time with you. Can you really blame her for feeling insecure?" he asked and while I watched Ryan pressed an affectionate kiss to his wife's cheek, a peck that had nothing to do with the animal that came to my bed and always left me boneless, sweat soaked and sated.

"I guess not," I muttered, feeling even less than an inch tall. I didn't really feel bad about what I was doing, at least until I was around him. Then I felt like the whore he obviously thought that I was.

"Besides, I kinda owed you one," he mumbled and shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his jeans. It took an effort not to look at the bulge between them. "I was kind of an ass at your Christmas thing. If I ruined it for you, I'm sorry," he added quietly. I blinked and for once was rendered speechless. "And just so you know, I know Macie cooked them or whatever but...they were good cookies," he added with a half wattage smile before he turned and headed back towards the ice.

I stared after him, unsure what had just happened. I couldn't understand how it was that he could make me feel like a common prostitute one minute and still leave me all tingly and with the urge to run around squealing like a giddy school girl the next.

"What was all that?" Manny asked, pulling off his Santa hat and rubbing his bald head.

"I have no idea," I muttered, shaking my head and leaning in to his side. "Not a single clue."

* * *

Even though the hostess had invited me, I knew it was a courtesy invite that I probably shouldn't have accepted. Marinette was too nice for her own good and I was too stupid to turn down what basically amounted to a pity fuck. The _last_ place on earth I should have been was at the grown-up celebration after the family skate.

With that in mind I resolved to stay as far under the radar as I possibly could. Wherever Andrea was, I did not want to be_._

The children had been shipped off for the evening to a nanny-supervised sleepover at Sami and Johanna's place so the celebration was underway as soon as the first drink was poured.

I was happily manning the keg and participating in casual conversation with the few ladies that had congregated in the kitchen, hoping I was out of the way enough to get through the evening without causing too much chaos.

Of course that plan went up in flames the moment Lappy's girlfriend Michelle realized who I was and for the first time I was completely vulnerable since the boys were spread out in the other rooms entertaining themselves with video games or cigars or something equally manly that their significant others were likewise not interested in sharing.

"Hmmm, Max said you weren't that pretty." I waited, gripping my drink a little too tight for her to add a polite `_but he obviously lied'_ or even a catty `_I guess he'd know the difference'_ but she just stood there, smiling like pretty girls who are used to being the center of attention often do. I blinked and kept my mouth shut. After all, what could I say to that?

"Yeah what _is_ she doing here? I mean it was bad enough she was squeezed into that stupid costume at the rink but seriously Marinette this is your house, why would you let _her_ in _here_?" Amanda, Eddie's rat faced girlfriend sneered at me and looked down her long nose at me as if I was a cracked out hooker standing on the corner of Quebec and East First.

"Girls, I'd appreciate it if you aren't rude to my guest," Marinette said quietly but firmly, like you would to an irascible child in front of company. I hated that she had to say it at all and sent her a grateful smile.

"It's Christmas," Katie added with a big smile as she brought another plate of cookies and desert bars from the kitchen, "if Marinette had wanted to invite the WAG's from Boston we'd be nice to them on Christmas." I doubted it, even coming from Katie who probably believed it, but I liked the sentiment. Amanda and Michelle made faces but turned away from me and for a moment I thought I could breathe and that everything would be fine. Tense, but fine.

"Maybe if you were enough for your man you wouldn't need to worry about her." I don't think that Nancy meant to say it loud enough that the two, as yet unmarried members of the group, would overhear but the way that Amanda's back suddenly became very rigid and straight proved that the barb had struck dead center.

"Oh fuck," Joann, Manny's wife muttered under her breath right before she hooked her arm into mine and pulled me back, deeper into the kitchen.

"You need to take that back," Amanda growled without turning around.

"Je voulais dire chaque mot, you skinny bitch," Nancy replied calmly. I wondered if that's one of the things that had drawn Burr to her, that she was feisty just like him.

"Oh no you didn't." As we watched Amanda handed her drink to Michelle, ran her long fake fingernails through her cheap extensions and then turned around.

"Ladies," Johanna, Hank's wife, not Sami's, stepped between them. "A little decorum if you please."

"I doubt she even knows what that word means," Joann breathed and I fought not to laugh.

"If you were going for decorum you wouldn't have invited the whore of Babylon." The small hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth. I shot a worried glance towards Katie who had promised that Andrea had begged off, saying she had a migraine and couldn't possibly come.

"Then we wouldn't have invited you," Gina, Lou's wife, appeared near Katie's elbow like a middle linebacker wearing a poisonous smile.

"Oh damn," I sighed and heard a barely stifled giggle from beside me. It was interesting how, in the midst of everything, I'd been all but forgotten. Johanna was still standing beside me though, prepared to do what, I wasn't sure, but it was nice to know that at least she was on my side.

The battle of the broads in the middle of the kitchen looked like it had the potential to go pear shaped in a hurry. Andrea all but had her teeth bared and was inches away from going for Gina's throat. One glance at Sarah proved that she was about a heartbeat away from wanting us all kicked out or bursting into tears and Michelle was looking entirely too smug about the hornet's nest she had kicked over. Someone obviously had to do _something_.

"Ah, Johanna?" I had to nudge her and raise my voice just to be heard. "Johanna?"

Distracted by the sniping in front of us she barely spared me a glance. "Hmmm?"

With one eye on the girls and another on the plastic cup of beer I was filling, I took a dive off the board headfirst into the shallow end. "So, um… _I _taught your husband that thing you like." When her disbelieving eyes cut to mine, I gave her an awkward smile. "You're welcome?"

Yep, that's me, champion tension breaker.

The absolute and total silence was twice as loud as the arguing had been. All attention was on me and I mentally calculated how many steps I'd have to run to make it out the back door.

"Jesus," Gina huffed from the spot she'd settled in at the table with her glass of red wine in hand, "I wish someone would teach it to _mine_."

Okay, so I hadn't seen that one coming.

Joann chuckled. Then she started to giggle. Then it was full out, `clutching her pearls', side-splitting laughter that even got Marinette going.

"Gina!" Megan Raymond scolded, trying not to look as amused as she was.

A grin was tugging at the corners of Johanna's mouth as Gina rolled her eyes, aiming a cranberry tipped fingernail in accusation. "Don't even _try_ and tell me you don't wish your sweet little farm boy knew a little more about how the west was won."

Megan's cheeks pinked but we all noticed that she didn't disagree. In fact, Adrianne, Aaron Rome's wife, placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and offered a sympathetic, understanding smile. "Don't feel bad. One of these days I'll finally get around to explaining to Aaron that it doesn't matter how many times you hit the button, the elevator isn't going to come any faster!"

Sarah snorted wine out her nose.

Gina raised her glass in triumph. "Exactly my point! Thank God for Penny. Some of you lucky bitches don't have to tell your men anything. She gives them a lesson or two and we all reap the rewards. Let's raise a glass to a specialist that finally isn't a gold digging slut."

The focus was back on me again and my eyebrows crawled into my hairline. "Um… thank you?" I squeaked and took a quick sip of the beer in my hand. "I'm glad to help."

"Ummm I wondered…," I glanced over to see Jamie Ballard watching me with a speculative gleam in her eyes. "I have to admit, I'd never met a team's specialist before coming here and I've always been a little bit curious about…well, certain things. I just wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable by asking about…well I'm not really comfortable doing…."

"_You_ don't want to make _her_ uncomfortable?" Andrea, who had been sidetracked from getting her rage on, stepped in and aimed a dark glare in my direction. "That's a joke, right? She makes her living being bent into `uncomfortable' positions while your husband pounds his dick through her." Her girl next door pretty features twisted with malice as she laughed darkly and rounded on Sarah who was practically hiding behind Katie. "Do you think she's `uncomfortable' when your holier-than-thou husband pulls her hair and fucks her throat until she's hoarse? You wanna ask questions? Ask her what kind of names he calls her while he's pretending _you_ don't exist."

There wasn't a single person who didn't adore cute, soft-spoken, wholesome Sarah, so everyone was plenty offended by the direct attack. Everyone except Sarah who's back straightened and eyes lit up with fire. I was a little worried when she turned in my direction but she smiled and simply said, "Does he call you `cum slut' too? I've been trying to get him to use some variety once in a while."

"Atta girl," Gina winked and promptly drained her glass. "_Now_ it's a party."

Joann nearly peed right there on the floor and leaned against me while she giggled as if she didn't trust her own legs to hold her up while she wiped at her eyes. Hearing those dirty, filthy words come out of Sarah's sweet, cupid bow lips was too funny and had certainly broke the tension in the room. Andrea, Michelle and Amanda went off into a corner to sulk and after that it got… better in a really strange way. Andrea and her dwindling band of cronies took off for parts unknown – I was glad I hadn't brought my car since the windshield probably would have been her next victim – and the rest of us stayed in the kitchen with a new agenda.

Playing spin the bottle.

Okay, maybe it should have been called Spin the Specialist since, after a couple of drinks in, I was perched precariously on the Lazy Susan in the middle of the table being carefully whirled until I came to a stop in front of one of the remaining WAGs. Said WAG would then have to do a shot – free-poured down the hatch by the lovely Katie – and then could ask me _any_ question they could think of pertaining to me, my role as a Specialist or my thoughts on how to add some spice to their sex lives at home. Out of respect for my liver I only had to do a shot every third question.

It got out of control in a hurry.

It started out mostly with tips on giving good head and the pros and cons of digital manipulation and quickly devolved into a truth or dare contest that had a lot to do with certain fruits and vegetables being used as props and stand-ins and finally ended up with Gina daring Katie to kiss me. The girls were cheering so loud that the guys came looking for the source of all the noise just in time to get an eyeful of our lip lock.

"Wait a God damn second, why am I not in on this?" Juice whined but with a big, Cheshire cat grin on his face.

"Fuck that, why are you not kissing my wife?" Lou demanded.

"Oh I didn't want her to _kiss_ me," Gina purred and reached to spin the Lazy Susan until I was facing her. "I was thinking about something _much_ more fun!"

"Oh holy shit who's got a camera?" Kess roared and before I had time to even object Gina had me by the bra straps and was pulling me towards her. I had visions of Girls Gone Wild in my head and wondered if Holly would fire me if this got leaked out onto the internet but before Lou's usually reserved and classy wife could motorboat me the Lazy Susan tipped and I spilled onto the floor, bringing her and Katie with me. We lay on the floor laughing our asses off until their husbands and Chris offered us all a hand up.

"Thanks," I breathed, putting my hand in Chris's huge calloused one. He smiled down at me, a genuinely happy smile.

"You okay?" he asked, helping to dust me off once I was back on my feet.

"I thought it would be Andrea wrestling me onto the floor tonight so…yeah, all things considered, I'm good," I replied and his grin broadened.

"Well you look like you're having fun," he added quietly and then, as if by magic, melted into the crowd around the table. I stared at the spot he had just been in and frowned. That was twice now that he'd been gracious to me in one day and my poor little heart was trying to kick and claw its way out of my chest in an effort to go after him while my brain was busy flipping him the bird for once again stranding me on my own in a crowd.

"Shots!" Juice suddenly cried and I groaned, my stomach having had enough already. What I needed was food to suck up some of the alcohol.

And definitely a ride home… eventually.

* * *

My folks might not have done Christmas in the traditional Norman Rockwell sort of way but they had their own traditions. Every Christmas eve, without fail, we'd listen to The Shepherd on the CBC and then we'd go to a movie, usually something Disney and animated, after which we'd go for Chinese, Peking duck, the works. It was too late for a movie but my stomach growled loudly as I pushed open the doors to my favorite late night restaurant deep in the heart of Chinatown.

I didn't need a menu, I knew it off by heart, and as usual I ordered too much. I'd have leftovers for a week.

As I sat down to wait I was wishing I'd brought a book or a magazine with me to help pass the time. I pulled out my phone intent on kicking some pig and bird ass but what I saw reflected in the black display made my heart stop beating in my chest.

There was no place to hide. Other than a large, boisterous family near the back of the restaurant I was the only person in the place and before I even turned around, I knew he'd seen me.

"Hey," he said quietly. "I guess great minds think alike huh?"

"I guess," I replied automatically and thumbed the lock on my phone open. I assumed he'd walk past, find another table and order his own take out. He surprised me by pulling a chair out at _my_ table and sitting opposite me. He didn't even ask if it was taken.

Hey, it _could_ have been.

"You order yet?" he asked and I nodded. Just for a second I thought I'd seen disappointment in his sky blue eyes but he dropped his gaze to the menu he'd picked up at the door and scanned it. "I've only been here once, I think with Max and Burr or something. What's good?" I stared at him, wanting with every nerve in my body to ask why small talk, why now, but I just pulled that little sling shot back and sent one of those black bomb birds into a stack of squealing green pigs instead. "So have you got lots of family waiting for you at home?" he asked and it took a concerted effort not to take my eyes off the screen. I knew, hell everyone knew that he came from a big Irish Catholic family and I well…_didn_'t. It made me want to kick him in the shins for even asking.

"No," I muttered quietly and grinned just a little as the black bird sent evil little piggies flying everywhere. "All your family here?" I asked, to be polite.

"No," he replied quietly and I didn't need to look up to detect a note of desolation in his voice. I cursed silently. He was doing it again. He was making it damn near impossible for me to stay mad at him.

"No?" I shut off my phone and put it back in my purse, folded my hands on the table and took a deep steadying breath before looking up at him. "How come?"

"City employees don't really get time off over the holidays," he shrugged and just one corner of his full mouth turned up in an almost smile, "it's a pretty violent time of the year; lots of trees going up in smoke and domestic disturbance calls." He looked almost sorry to be missing out on it. I fought hard not to smile at the idea of him a uniform. He'd look fucking hot in either uniform.

"So why didn't you fly there?" I asked, though I knew a home game yesterday and a home game on Boxing Day hadn't really left a lot of wiggle room for a cross country trip. "Yeah, sorry," I replied before he had a chance to explain.

"So what's your excuse?" he asked me before I could ask anything else and I shrugged. "C'mon, Hank didn't insist you stay over, have Swedish midnight gift opening or whatever?" he grinned and I was glad I was sitting down or my knees would have buckled. That smile went all the way up to his eyes and made them crinkle at the corners. I had the urge to moan out loud.

"This is _my_ Christmas eve tradition," I replied just as my order was delivered to the table. He eyed the two stuffed bags and then looked across at me.

"You must have a bunch of friends waiting," he said brightly but the way his eyes dimmed told another story. Damn it again.

"Oh hell…_no_ this is just for me." It _was_ a lot of food for one person. And since he hadn't ordered yet… maybe… "Look…it's my night off or whatever so I'm going to my place…I mean not `the condo'," I put the rabbit ears around the words and he made a quizzical face. "I'm going back to my old place. It's not much and I haven't even been there in like a month so it's probably cold as hell but, I don't… um… if you want to come with…?" I didn't even get the chance to beg him. He was handing his credit card over before I was even finished. Chris Higgins was buying me dinner.

Damn, it was almost a date.

My old apartment wasn't exactly what anyone would describe as spacious. When I had originally found the place the ad had actually used the words "cozy" and "efficient" in the property description. It was nothing more than a galley kitchen, a living room that was barely big enough for a love seat and chair, a bedroom only big enough for a double bed and a tiny bathroom. For me it was fine, but standing in the middle of my living room, Chris made the place look miniscule. By extension, he looked twice as large.

His eyes swept the space, taking in a million tiny details at once, and I grimaced internally, wondering again what in the hell I'd been thinking bringing him here.

I glanced over at the bags of takeout on the kitchen counter and figured we could just haul the lot of it to the condo instead. "We don't have to stay here," I said in a rush, reaching out to swipe the battered teddy bear I'd had since birth, off of his perch at the end of the couch and searched for some place to hide him.

Chris was no slouch, his eyes tracked the movement easily as they followed puck movement on the ice and he took a couple of steps in my direction. Patiently he held out both hands and waited for me to reveal what I had tried to stash behind my back.

I made a pathetic attempt to look confused but was given away by the blush I could feel staining my cheeks. I ducked my head, chuckling at my idiotic attempt at innocence.

Chris simply stepped forward into my space and reached both arms around me, his hands sliding along my forearms until he could feel the matted "fur" I had clutched in my fingers. He shook my wrists a little. "Let me see,"

"My life could be better without handing you proof that I'm a complete and utter dork."

His chest rumbled with a laugh but he didn't step back. "You think Lou is actually funny. I already knew you were a dork." He eased his thumbs into my palms. "C'mon, show me."

My shoulders dropped and I slowly surrendered the bear, keeping my head down but my eyes on the slightly worn and slightly matted stuffed toy whose head flopped forward in Chris' large hands.

Chris stared down at it and tipped his head to the side. "Does he have a name?"

Well, in for a penny... "Huggy."

One of his eyebrows lifted as he looked over at me. "Huggy... Bear?"

I shrugged. I didn't really have any defense here other than to say, "I spent a lot of time with the TV as my only source of company. 'Nick at Nite' was the best. Starsky and Hutch was on right before The Patty Duke Show."

He laughed, looking between Huggy and I, smiling like I'd surprised him. "He looks well loved,"

Gently, I took the bear back from him and stroked my hand over the little fuzzy head. "Best friends usually are." I laughed softly at myself again and then made a face when I realized I was cuddling Huggy protectively against my chest. "And doesn't that just scream 'sexy'." Casually - though carefully - I tossed Huggy onto the couch and turned toward the kitchen. "So I guess plates and cutlery are in order," I muttered and eased past him, noting that he didn't move to get out of my way so that my ass brushed his massive skater thighs. I shut my eyes and told myself over and over to be cool and to remember to breathe when what I really wanted to do was some kind of goofy celebratory dance to mark the occasion of Chris Higgins being in my apartment letting me touch him without running a mile.

I could hear him taking the food out of the bags and laying it out on the coffee table. I tried not to think about the soft grey sweater he was wearing or the way that it pulled across his wide shoulders or how his biceps would look as he stretched across the tiny table to put the hot and sour soup in the middle.

I came back to the table with forks and spoons and chop sticks, not knowing which utensil a boy from New York would choose and put plates and bowls out. "Beer or something less alcoholic?" I asked, wondering if I had either in the fridge and wishing that I'd thought about that before this moment.

"Beer, if you have it," he added, that boyish grin of his making me want to sweep all of the steaming food from the table and offer myself up instead. I nodded and went back into the kitchen where I promptly stuck my head into the freezer in a naïve attempt to cool my jets. I'd had half of his teammates in my bed and they all popped my cork in their own way, but none of them, not a single _one_ of them, made me get all fan girl, weak kneed and silly like he did.

Luckily for me there was a six-pack of Dead Frog in the back of the fridge and I retrieved them as well as a bottle opener and returned to the table, offering him an open one. I watched him take a swig, his lips closing around the top of the amber bottle and bit back a whimper, thinking about the way I wanted his lips to close around one of my nipples and suck on _it_. I watched the muscles in his throat work and thought about licking his skin.

He looked at the bottle as he wiped his muscular forearm across his mouth and then ran his hand down to the thicker part of the bottle and left his hand there, his fingers caressing the bottle, the condensation on the bottle dripping over his thick fingers. I damn near came. "That's good. I haven't had that one before."

"Uh huh," I muttered and reached for sweet and sour pork, dumping some onto a plate and stabbing a piece mercilessly with a fork. I didn't trust myself with chopsticks right at that moment. With my luck my first bite would go right down my top. I raised the piece of pork to my lips and was about to put it in my mouth when I realized he wasn't eating. He wasn't even looking at the food. He was watching me. I wanted to put my fork down. I also wanted to climb under the table to hide. The appraising way his gaze traveled down to the `v' of my sweater made me squirm in my seat.

"So how come you're alone on Christmas Eve?" he asked slowly and then lifted the bottle to take another sip.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied quickly and defensively and then shoved the piece of sauce covered pork in my mouth and reached for the container of Shanghai noodles. I shoveled some of the thick noodles onto my plate and then stabbed one with my fork. "You and Grizz are like…the most eligible bachelors on the team," I reminded him, or was it myself. "Shouldn't you be out with some…I don't know, local actress or weather girl or something?" I stabbed another piece of pork and added a pineapple to the mouthful and shoved both into my mouth, chewing hard.

Chris scratched the back of his head. "Yeah well…there's this person I've had my eye on," he replied quietly. I bit down hard on the inside of both cheeks to stop from growling. Of course there was. He was hot and that picture of his abs had been making its way around the internet for a couple of weeks now. I'd drooled over it myself. I knew damn well I wasn't the only red blooded woman in the city that wanted to play tic-tac-toe on his six pack.

"Mmmhm," I murmured encouragingly because I felt like it was the right thing to do. I simultaneously imagined clawing out the eyes of whoever the bitch was.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. "But she has all these guys she's with all the time when _I'd_ like to spend time alone with… her." My hand hesitated over the container of fried squid and I nearly choked on the juicy bun I'd just bit into.

"Oh yeah, she gets around huh?" I muttered, spearing a couple of pieces of squid and pretending to study the white coils of chewy saltiness. I wasn't going to cry. I wasn't. It just really sucked that while he thought I was the sluttiest person alive, he was secretly jonesing over someone who actually _was _an easy piece of ass.

Hypocrite.

"Penny," he leaned forward again, obviously trying to get me to make eye contact but I couldn't do it. "Penny?"

"Hmm?" I gestured to his empty plate with my fork and forced a smile. "You'd better eat, Christopher, I'm not afraid to finish this without you."

He exhaled hard and pushed his sleeves up to his elbows. "Penny, I'm… I… there's this girl –"

I had an overwhelming urge to stuff rice in my ears just to drown him out. Sure I made myself available for the guys when they wanted to talk about their love lives since nothing was better than a woman's opinion on the subject, but not this time. Not with him. The last thing I wanted to hear about was this mystery chick he wanted to spend time with. Time that _I_ really wanted to have him spend with _me_. "I'm sure she's a peach," I grated out, tearing another piece out of the bun with my teeth. Mouth full, I mumbled, "At least I don't have to worry about _her_ trying to snatch me bald since you generally avoid me like the plague."

He was quiet for so long that I finally risked looking at him only to find him practically gaping at me. "Unreal."

It sounded accusatory. "What?" It's hard to sound defensive around a wad of meat and yeast. I swallowed quickly, managing not to choke, just. "You _do_. You treat me like I'm some kind of disease. Whatever, it's fine. I get it. You like some other girl, who apparently likes other men, and you want to spend time with her alone. Awesome," I scoffed. "Can't fault you there. One wonders though why you aren't trying to spend time with her tonight."

"I _am_," he groaned.

Say what? I blinked at him, absolutely bewildered. "Huh?"

Chris raked both of his hands through his hair and then picked up his beer again, taking a long pull and eying me over the bottle. "She's a little dense sometimes," he began, "and a bit slow on the uptake. She sucks at poker and can't walk and chew gum at the same time. She can't skate, she can't bake, she can't hold a tune and I'm pretty sure she has a magnet for trouble imbedded in her ass." The bottle found a home on the table again and he rested his elbows on his knees. "She's afraid to fly, she can't drive standard, and she's a bit of a dork."

Those were… I couldn't… I… Oh.

_Oh_.

His lips curled a little at the corners and he shook his head. "But she's got these killer eyes. And she makes me laugh. And when she smiles at me, just at _me_, it makes me forget there are other men in her life." He looked at me across the little table as though _he _was the one trying to fit the puzzle together. "She cares about them a lot. And _they_ say she cares about me the most, which probably proves that her taste in men is as shitty as her taste in music."

Oh God. I dropped my eyes to my plate, food suddenly the last thing on my mind.

"You know who I'm talking about," he said quietly and I heard him rising from his chair and pushing it back. I shook my head but didn't look up. This wasn't happening, I told myself, even as half my brain tried to reason with me, tried to remind me that this was what I wanted after all. The other part of my brain was squealing like a stuck pig as I listened to his footsteps as he made his way around the table.

"Nnnnoooo," I groaned as I wished that I didn't have sweet and sour sauce at the corner of my mouth as I felt his hand cup my chin.

"Pen…look at me." I fought not to. I actually pressed my chin down into his hand and did my best not to look up. As if I could fight someone with muscles like his. "I hate that I have feelings for you while you fuck all my teammates," he said softly as he physically forced me to look up at him. "I know you know that I want you," he added even while I shook my head vehemently, or at least a little. "C'mon, you think I'm a dick like that to everyone?" Again I shook my head and he rolled those big blue eyes with their fringe of dark blonde lashes. "I hate what you do," he added very softly as his lips drew near to mine, "but I don't hate you Penny."

When he kissed me I wanted to cry. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. I'd imagined this kiss a hundred, maybe a thousand times and it was never like this. It wasn't in a tiny little one-bedroom apartment and I wasn't sitting with a fork in one hand wearing a Christmas sweater. It was sweet like this though, soft and slow, like warm butterscotch dripping down the slope of cold vanilla ice cream. When he pulled back my eyes were still shut and I thought maybe I could hear birds singing and bells ringing.

"Merry Christmas Pen," he said softly and then I heard him turn and head through my kitchen and before I could even get to my feet, as if there was a chance in hell my knees would hold me up at that moment, he was out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

I'd thought something would change. I'd sat and waited, nursing my rum and eggnog all Christmas day thinking that he'd arrive at my door with a sprig of mistletoe and that knee weakening smile of his. By dinner time I was feeling embarrassed, knowing that he'd probably gone to Kess's place to share Christmas cheer with Ryan and his family or he'd got together with some of the other singles, Booth , Max, maybe Eddie, and that kind of hurt. Surely, I told myself, if that was the case they'd have included me. After all, had I not just admitted to being entirely alone for Christmas?

I tried to watch a Christmas Story but couldn't crack a smile at Ralphie or his little brother Randy, not even when he fell in the snow and couldn't get back up.

I paced the apartment looking for something else to occupy my mind and ended up opening a bottle of red wine. Before I knew it, I'd drained half of it and then started ripping down the decorations. By midnight I was alternating between tears and ripping down tinsel garland while cursing him and every member of his family.

That's when I drunk dialed Eddie.

Merry Christmas to me.

He didn't judge me when I opened the door with what was left of that bottle in my hand. He just took it out of my hand, put it on the counter and led me to the bathroom. I must have been a hot mess because he undressed me like I was his drunk girlfriend, carefully and slowly, before putting me in the shower where he held me while I cried. He never asked why and I hated his hawk nosed bitch of a girlfriend even more for having a strong, silent, sweet man like this and treating him like a walking invitation to every socialite party in the city.

He wrapped me up in a towel and even dried my hair before putting me in bed and holding me like I was a little girl who'd had a nightmare. He stroked my hair and curled his long limbs around me and held me until I fell asleep.

When I woke up I felt differently about things and took advantage of his morning wood. Not that he'd complained, even though he should have considering they had a game that night. By the time I'd climbed off of him to make coffee I'd decided not to let Chris's hot and cold running emotions get to me. And then Eddie said I should go with him to practice. So I put my coffee in travel mug, pulled on a pair of jeans and sweatshirt and went with him.

By Boxing Day I'd been to maybe a dozen practices. Coach AV hadn't exactly forbidden me from attending but he'd made it clear that especially pre-game morning skates were _his _time and not time for the guys to be distracted by me. So, careful to keep his rules in mind, I didn't go into the room and ask the guys what Santa had brought them. I went out to the stands, found a seat up behind the player's bench where I could see over the glass, and settled in.

Most of the guys didn't even notice that I was there. Kess gave me a wave and Burr tapped the blade of his stick against the glass. Other than that, the guys did their warm ups and skated their laps and then Coach called them over to go over some drills.

When the guys take a knee in front of the coach it's usually a good time to gauge their mood. If they're smiling and laughing at his jokes they're loose and it usually bodes well for the game. If they're serious and grim then it usually means they're getting lectured and probably won't be a in a mood to go for lunch and watch re-runs of Oprah before their afternoon nap. That day they looked loose, most of them smiling, laughing.

Most, but not all. Not Chris.

He glared at me through the entire meeting.

I wished with all my might that I'd brought a book, stopped to a buy a paper or magazine, even that Andrea was there to pull my hair. Anything but have him staring daggers at me. I squirmed and became very engrossed in picking imaginary lint off my sweatshirt. I read every billboard I could see. I studied Harold Snepts entry on the ring of honor. I stared up at Trev, Nazzy and Steamer's numbers up in the rafters. But every time I looked down his blue eyes were blazing up at me. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, got up and headed up the stairs. I wanted to flip him the bird. I wanted to scream at him to get out of my head.

I had angry tears running down my cheeks when I got to the elevator that would take me down to the player's exit and was feeling like the same hot mess for whom I'd had to call Eddie for clean up duty and I was cursing myself for caring as the doors slid open. I wasn't even thinking about the walk home yet except that it would do me good and I was trying to think if there might be any liquor stores open at this hour in the morning when I ran straight into a wide, solid chest.

"Sorry," I grumbled and rubbed at the tears on my cheeks.

"Are you?" I'd made the assumption that I'd walked into another employee, maybe even one of the equipment guys but the musky, funky smell that suddenly filled my nose and the feel of the hands that closed around my upper arms immediately told me I was wrong. The voice made my heart race and I cursed it for being a traitor. I slowly lifted my head to look into his eyes and felt a cold, cruel smile spread across my face.

"No, not really," I admitted. He clenched his teeth and his eyes blazed a dangerous grey.

"So he was really with you last night?" he asked, his fingers digging into my arms so deep that it hurt but I refused to flinch.

"Eddie?" I asked, just to be sure we were talking about the same thing. He nodded, just once, and I smiled. "Yeah, _all _night," I added with a satisfied smile that made his nostrils flare.

"Damn it…I thought we made some kind of…I don't know…break through or something. I thought you understood," he began and then sort of shook me as if it was my fault he couldn't get his tongue around the words he should be saying.

"I don't know what _you _thought," I told him honestly, knowing there were still tears streaming down my cheeks and hating that he could see how vulnerable I was. "I mean, _I_ thought that you told me that you wanted me but then you just left and you didn't even come by the next day. No call, not even a fucking text so…I don't know what _you_ thought."

"I thought you'd quit!" he exclaimed, looking frustrated and shocked all at the same time.

I stared at him for one, endless moment and then ran my fingers through hair and turned away. The tears stopped, just like that, and now it was my turn to grind my teeth.

"Would you?" I asked quietly. I knew what his answer would be but I wanted him to say it out loud.

"Well that's stupid. Of course not," he snapped as if I'd asked something ludicrous.

"So…I'm supposed to just ignore my contract, just let all the guys down and quit, just like that for someone who basically thinks I'm a whore and isn't sure if he likes me enough to even eat a meal with me?" I asked slowly, choosing my words carefully.

"If you want me, then…yeah." I shook my head. It was so clear to him but it wasn't that clear to me.

"Yeah well…I'm not that fickle," I told him, all those jittery butterflies having flown. "I like my job and I like the guys and one kiss…you'd have to give me a whole lot more than one kiss to make me turn my back on that." The look of shock on his face was kind of priceless as I turned to walk away but for once, since the very first time I'd decided to take this job that niggling feeling of guilt, of uncertainty at the back of my mind was gone and I walked out of the arena with my head high.

* * *

Not that I wasn't still furious.

I paced the apartment like a tiger in a cage, growling under my breath every so often about what a pig he was and wondering aloud how he could he be such a self centered bastard. I knew that part of my brain was trying to assure the other part that I'd done the right thing, walking away from him. I knew damn well that I hadn't erased every single feeling for him from my heart, but he'd certainly done a good job of making those feelings less significant.

I was considering opening another bottle of wine when there was a knock at the door. A little part of me, the eager puppy that still wanted both his approval and his attention, had me running to the door in hopes of finding him waiting to apologize and drop down on one knee but when I tugged open the door, it was Kess that brushed by me into the apartment.

"Just because Megan's pregnant now Andrea suddenly wants another kid," he growled, tugging his sweatshirt over his head. I stared at a bruise on his back the size and shape of a stick blade as I closed the door and drew the chain across.

"Would that be so bad?" I asked, turning the dead bolt.

"Half the time I can barely look at her so, yeah I'm not sure it's a great fucking plan to have more kids with her," he snapped, toeing off his runners and reaching for the belt on his jeans. "I mean, she knows when I take my nap and that she's supposed to keep Maks and Ry up so that we all go down at the same time so I can sleep but today, noooo, she wants me to look after them so she can get her nails done? What the fuck is that about." I nodded, unable and unwilling to come up with an argument in her favor.

"That's so disrespectful," I countered, not talking about his wife, but Chris. Kess snorted as he dragged his belt out with a whoosh and threwit on the floor. I dragged off my own sweatshirt and added it to the pile.

"It's like she doesn't get that I'm not a fucking bank manager or something, like she doesn't even know what I do," he sighed, dropping his jeans to the floor.

"Like she doesn't get that it's not just about you, it's about _all_ the guys," I added and he gaveme one of those '_you get it_' half grins.

"Like she just knows the money comes in and she spends it and she doesn't get that it's hard on me," he added as he sat on the edge of the bed and tugged his socks off one at a time. I wriggled out of my jeans and kicked them aside.

"Like she thinks that you can just turn it off, like what you do doesn't matter," I added, thinking about the way Chris had looked at me, as if he couldn't fathom how I could actually enjoy doing this. As if I could just turn off my feelings for the other guys on the team, as if I could just stop caring about them.

"I know, it's like I wanna say 'are you fucking new?' he snapped, looking up at me impatiently as I shrugged my bra off and tossed it on the floor with the rest of our clothes. "Sometimes I think she just doesn't get me at all," he added with a sigh as I stepped out of my panties and climbed onto his lap. I felt his hands settle on my waist as he guided me down with him onto the mattress. "Fuck, sometimes I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't fuck the shit out of you," he whispered against the curve of my neck. My eyes fluttered closed.

This was like a drug, like I'd been jonesing and now I was getting a fix. I felt every single muscle in my body relax as his cock slid up inside of me, filling me. It wasn't just that Ryan or any of the guys needed me, though that was certainly addictive enough and I knew it wasn't just because they were all athletes with amazing bodies and equally amazing stamina. The reason that I couldn't…no, _wouldn't_ just give this up was that they had become my family, a strangely intimate family and you don't abandon family.

"I'm here," I whispered, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and holding on as our bodies found a familiar rhythm. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank fucking god," he groaned, kissing his way up from my collarbone up my neck before capturing my mouth with his. There was nothing sweet and romantic about his kiss. In bed he was just like he was on the ice, never hesitant, never apologetic. Ryan took what he wanted and gave everything, leaving nothing behind. As he rolled me onto his back and ploughed his rock hard cock into me with me abandon I threw back my head and let him chase my cares away.

* * *

Except my cares wouldn't just go away.

I knew I was still going to have to face Chris and despite the fact that I felt firm in my decision I still dreaded having to face him, knowing that despite everything, even if I steeled myself and reminded myself that he was a pig, he'd still make my heart miss a beat. Even with Kess's arm draped around my shoulders and Juice doing his worst Bublé imitation into the shaft of his stick, my knees nearly buckled when Chris rounded the corner from the showers in nothing but compression shorts and his flip flops.

"Damn it," I cursed quietly, and looked down at the floor. At least the cool, grey concrete didn't look pleased with itself and its damn six-pack. Kev stopped singing and Kess spun me to face him.

"Chris and Penny sitting in a…," I slapped the palm of my hand over his mouth and glared at him.

"It's not like that," I hissed.

"But you'd like it to be like that," Kev said quietly, his hand on the small of my back.

"No," I lied. I didn't want to want him but my body obviously felt differently about it.

"It's okay," Kess assured me, his voice muffled against my hand, "we won't tell."

"No you don't understand," I sighed, dropping my hand and leaning into his chest, "he hates me."

"He doesn't…." Kev began and I shot him a look that immediately silenced him.

"He thinks I'm a whore. He called me that to my face," I snapped. Kev started to get his mad face on and I reached out and pulled him to us, wrapping my arm around his and Ryan's waists until they surrounded me. "I shouldn't care what he thinks but I can't help it," I added, blinking away the tears that were, once again, threatening to fall.

"Because you like him," Kess whispered, cupping my chin in his fingers just the way that Chris had and making me look up at him. I nodded and promptly burst into tears. Both men wrapped their arms around me and held me, protecting me from prying eyes until I managed, hiccupping and coughing to get myself almost under control.

"Thanks," I sniffed, brushing at my tears. Kev pulled his shirt off and offered it to me. I took and blew my nose right into it. "I'll wash it," I promised. He laughed.

"Only if you wanna keep it," he snorted, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Hey there you are!" I looked around Kev's thick body to find Hank heading up the hallway towards us. I rubbed at my eyes and plastered a smile on my lips.

"Are you looking for me?" I asked, wondering if I had the strength for a special assignment. I hoped it would be someone not very demanding like Honey Badger or Eaglet.

"Higgins just puked his guts up in the room. He needs to go home, can you take him?" I sucked in a sharp breath and fisted my hand in the back of Ryan's t-shirt.

"Me?" I asked, my voice coming out a high pitched squeak.

"Why, is that a problem?" Hank asked, his forehead wrinkling as if he never imagined my saying no, which, I suppose, considering some of the things I'd done with him and his brother, I shouldn't have found odd.

"No, of course not. Let me just get my keys," I responded automatically, despite part of my brain screaming no frantically over and over.

"We could just call him a cab," Kess pointed out, which made Hanks's brow furrow even more.

"No, it's fine," I muttered and dug in the pockets of my jeans.

"Penny…," Kev hissed and I put my hand flat on his washboard stomach.

"It's _fine_," I repeated more firmly and then smiled up into his blue eyes. "I'll see you later, okay?" He pursed his lips and looked like he wanted to argue but knew better than to try. Instead he leaned in and kissed my cheek and patted my ass as I turned to kiss Kess good bye.

"If you need me…," he began to which I smiled.

"You'll be playing," I reminded him, kissed his cheek and turned to head into the room. I could feel their eyes on me the entire way.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I glanced up from the book I'd been reading to see Chris leaning heavily against the wall just inside the kitchen. His color wasn't really good but it was _better_ and I noticed he had changed clothes, now completely dressed in a clean t-shirt and sweatpants instead of the boxer-briefs I had left him in.

"You're up," I acknowledged, sliding a bookmark in to save my place. A glance at the clock indicated that it was a little too late for lunch and a bit too early for dinner but neither of us had eaten all day so… "I'll put the kettle on. Think you can stomach some toast?"

Though it must have taken some effort he stood up a little straighter. "I asked you a question."

As I passed him I laid a gentle hand on his forehead and though he frowned, he didn't pull away as far as I'd expected. "Still warm but better," I stepped over to the fridge, snagged a Gatorade and stripped the safety seals from it before handing it to him. "Little sips, okay?"

Chris' eyes, looking much clearer than they had in days, narrowed as he tracked my movement around his kitchen but he sipped the liquid slowly, as I'd suggested. I filled the kettle and put it on to boil and then decided to add some scrambled eggs to the menu since, even if he couldn't eat them,_ I _was hungry.

He hadn't moved, just stood there glaring at me and weaving on his feet like a palm tree in a hurricane. "What the _hell_ are you doing here, Penny? Either answer me or get the fuck out."

I rolled my eyes but the truth was his attitude proved that he was on the path to recovery and after two days of getting alternately praised for helping him and begged to stay and being screamed at for merely existing, nothing he had to say now landed too hard. I'd heard every variation of that very same phrase enough times over the last forty eight hours that it hardly registered. "Why don't you sit your sick ass down before you fall on your face?"

For a moment I didn't think he would but then he shuffled over to the island and slumped onto a stool. "I'm not going to fall over."

"Yeah, well, considering how many times I've had to hold you up while you puke, why don't you just humor me and sit your ass down?" In fact I'd had to drag him from the bed to the couch half a dozen times while I changed the sheets every time he'd sweated through them but in his state I was willing to bet he didn't remember that.

"I don't see why you care," With his chin propped up in his hands and his elbows on the counter rockin' that just rolled out of bed look I had a sudden vision of five year old Chris Higgins pouting about having to go to school.

Leaning over, I took a good look at him. Yeah, he looked better. Not _great_ but there was definite improvement. "Somebody has to," I said softly and got away with cupping his cheek for a moment, feeling the bristle of his beard in the palm of my hand. He stiffened and barely refrained from snarling at me. From the pocket of the hoodie I had borrowed from his closet, I produced the cordless phone and placed it in front of him. "Call your mother, she's worried about you."

"Oh jeezus you told her I was sick?" he snapped, grabbing the phone.

"Well what did you want me to say when you didn't make the road trip?" His finger paused above the keypad and slowly he looked up at me. "You've been out for almost three days sunshine." His mouth moved, forming the word 'three' without making a sound. "She's worried, you should call," I repeated and then turned to crack an egg into a bowl.

"You've been here…the _whole _time?" he asked, sounding sheepish for once.

"Yep, did everything but wipe your ass," I told him, thinking about how he'd refused to let go of my hand the first night. Not that I would have left him in that condition. "It was here or the hospital and I seem to remember your saying you'd had enough of that the last time they hooked you up to a drip and left you behind. Which reminds me," I turned and pulled a bottle of pills from one of the pockets of the borrowed hoodie, "do you think you can keep a couple of these down?"

"Those aren't my pills," he grumbled, but took the pills I shook into his hand.

"No, your pills made you barf on your carpet, which I think you're going to have to replace by the way," I added, wrinkling my nose at the memory of two hours spent on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and damn near every detergent I could find. "The doctor says these should be easier on your stomach."

"So you've been here the _whole_ time," he said again, this time sounding incredulous. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Well who else could do it? By the time your mommy could have got here from New York you might have drowned in your own vomit and your only other choices were rat face…," he made a face and I rolled my eyes. "Eddie's girlfriend or possibly Megan but in her condition that wouldn't have been such a good idea."

"No, yeah, I guess not," he agreed and tossed the pills into his mouth, followed by another small swallow of the Gatorade. "Uh…I guess thank you," he mumbled, almost under his breath. I shrugged and went back to cracking eggs.

"It's a glamorous life," I snorted and reached for the pepper mill.

"Yeah okay…I guess this was probably pretty awkward for you so…I'm sorry," he added even more quietly. I wondered how tasty that particular mouthful of crow was for him but decided against asking.

"It's like I've been trying to tell you, I'm here for whatever you or any of the other guys need," I told him while I kept my gaze focused on the bowl in front of me. It had been easier to deal with him when he'd been fevered and rambling incoherently. Feeling his gaze burrowing under my skin now made me feel vulnerable, stripped bare.

"Can we call a truce?" he asked tentatively, like he expected me to bite his head off. I'd bite him, alright, given half the chance but I was no longer sure if it would be in a playful way.

"Of course," I agreed, whisking the eggs a little more briskly than was strictly necessary.

He fell silent while I poured the egg mixture into the pan and I was grateful. I was still suffering from the overwhelming urge to run my fingers through his hair and stroke his cheek the way I'd been doing to soothe him while he tossed and turned. It had been so nice to be able to touch him without him flinching, to have him grasp my arm and ask me to stay, even if he'd been in the midst of a fever dream and hadn't really known it was me. It was hard now to stand here, hearing him breathing, moving behind me and not be able to touch him.

"You okay with that toast?" I asked as I dished the now scrambled eggs onto two plates.

"I guess so," he mumbled, picking up the piece of dry toast in front of him from which it was apparent he'd only taken a couple of bites. "Is there any jam?"

"You must be feeling better," I smirked as I slid the plate of eggs in front of him and then turned to open the fridge. As I did my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text from Katie.

"I guess I'll have to take mine to go," I told him, putting my phone back in my pocket and the jar of strawberry jam in front of him.

"Go?" he asked, spooning the fluffy eggs into his mouth as if he'd just been picked up off of a deserted island and hadn't seen food for weeks.

"Hey, go easy on that. Little bites, take your time," I reminded him, sliding my share of the eggs onto his plate. "Yeah, Katie has a favor to ask apparently," I added, heading for the door where my shoes were waiting for me.

"So you're just gonna leave me here?" he asked, now scooping eggs into his mouth like it was his last meal, savoring each mouthful.

"Your fever's practically gone. Text me if you feel warm again and uh…take a shower, you smell," I added with a grin. "Oh and don't forget to call your mother," I added, I slid into my shoes and out the door.

* * *

"Saved by the bell," I sighed as I dropped into the chair across from Katie at the Starbucks down the street from their new house in an upscale area where young, urban professionals were purchasing old, run down Victorians and sprucing them up.

"I figured you might need a break," she smiled warmly as she pushed a steaming mug towards me and broke a pumpkin scone in half.

"Thanks." I took a long sip of the sweet hot caramel macchiato and let it's velvety smooth warmth slide down my throat.

"Sooo," she sat back and narrowed her eyes at me over her own mug which was clasped in both hands, "Kev tells me you have a thing for Higgy." I made a mental note to pinch him somewhere it would hurt, a lot, next time I saw him, but shrugged.

"I'm attracted to him but I don't know how much I actually _like_ him," I admitted. It felt good to say out loud, to admit to someone and Katie had been so good to me I knew without having to ask that it would stay between us and not be repeated to any of the other WAGs. She wrinkled her cute button nose and made a face.

"Are you saying you're not attracted to my Kev?" I snorted coffee out my nose and reached for a napkin.

"One, I can't believe you asked me that and two…well yeah but he's married to you," I pointed out, I thought unnecessarily but she was still looking at me as if what I'd said puzzled her.

"I have to ask because…well…with what you do…how is he different from Kev or Eddie or…any of the guys?" This was the exact question I'd been struggling with and considering I couldn't really explain it to myself I didn't know how I was going to explain it to her.

"I guess it would be like asking Marinette and Johanna how they decided which twin to marry," I shrugged and Katie looked thoughtful. "I don't know, maybe it's because he won't let me near him, like the whole forbidden thing," I sighed and broke off a piece of the scone.

"Or his abs," she added with a giggle that was so adorable that two guys stopped on the street and smiled at her.

"Yeah, they're not bad," I smirked and felt my cheeks get warm. I cursed under my breath. I hated that no matter how mad he made me, how offhand he treated me, I still wanted him in the worst way.

"So…does it make you feel differently about being with the other guys, y'know, cuz your all _oooh Higgy_?" she asked, batting her eyelashes and making a show of fainting into her chair. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"No, actually it really doesn't. I mean…yeah, I kind of think that sex with him would be different but…I still like having sex with all the other guys. Actually I'm kind of missing them right now," I added with a sigh, thinking that the last few days had been the longest I'd gone without in a long time.

"That's good because I have this _huuuuge_ favor to ask," she said quietly, leaning over the table with this conspiratorial look on her face. Because it seemed like she wanted me to, I leaned in. "You know how the guys are coming back tomorrow…well, I was wondering…."

* * *

She had been fine right up until the moment she heard the key turning in the lock and that's when Katie's nerves started to get the better of her. I reached out and laid a hand on her thigh and she stilled, like a gentled filly, but her eyes remained wide and she fidgeted with her bustier, alternately pulling it up and down.

"I can go," I whispered and then pressed a tender kiss to her bare shoulder.

"No," she replied firmly, her hand clamping down on my own hard enough that it almost hurt. I smiled and shimmied closer to her, lacing my fingers with hers' and running the fingers of my free hand through her dark hair.

I'd been more than surprised when she'd asked me to join her in welcoming Kev home. I'm one of those girls that considers herself to be 'strictly dickly', with a few specific exceptions like Kat Dennings and _maybe_ Gemma Arterton, but Katie had been so sweet and so supportive that I didn't hesitate to agree, especially when she said she wanted to play Mary Ann to my Ginger. It was about the nicest compliments anyone's ever given to me.

I could feel her relaxing by degrees as I petted her like a cat and when he opened the door and nearly stumbled, she purred like a big, exotic cat too.

I'd expected her to spook like a doe when her husband came in the room but she leaned back against me and held his gaze while I swept her hair from her neck and pressed my mouth against her jumping pulse. She tasted of cream cheese icing and her hair smelled of lavender. Kev made a sound in his throat but didn't move from the doorway, one hand still on the brass knob, his gaze riveted to his wife's considerable cleavage.

I felt her sharp intake of breath as my hand slowly brushed over her soft, smooth skin to tug at the laces at the top of the corset. She wasn't the only one taking a breath, but Kev blew his out as his eyes tracked the work my fingers were doing as, inch by inch I bared his wife to his greedy gaze. Just once he lifted his eyes to meet my inquiring gaze and he smiled, briefly but like a beam of sunshine through dark clouds as he mouthed the words 'thank you'. I grinned back and kissed his wife's cheek.

"Welcome home honey," she whispered to him, holding her hand out to beckon him closer. He crossed the room in two steps and cupped her round cheeks in his big hands, pressing a forceful kiss on her mouth and then, still cupping her cheek in one hand, he reached back and brushed his knuckles along my jaw and more gently than he had ever done, brushed my lips with his own.

"Welcome back Juice," I whispered and then tugged the last loop of the laces on the front of her corset free.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I'm mad at you." The voice was low. The breath was warm. The body pressed against my back was solid as a prison wall.

"I would not get in bed with you and your wife. That bitch would cut me," I responded with a smile as I leaned back into his arms.

"I didn't even know that was an option or I would have asked a _loooong _time ago," Hammer sighed from his across the aisle on the bus.

"Your wife…," I closed my eyes and thought about Sarah and smiled. "Your wife would be at confession every day for a month."

"Doesn't mean it wouldn't be worth it," Dan smirked and then stuck his ear buds in and opened his lap top.

I sat up and twisted to look down at Kess who secured me in place with his hands on my hips. "And how the hell did you know about that anyway?"

He smirked and gave me a look that read, "Seriously?"

"That brat," I scowled, knowing Kevin had broken the code and spilled the beans about our special rendezvous. "Does everyone know?" I wasn't embarrassed per-se, it was just that I hadn't realized our little threesome was going to become public knowledge.

"Oh come on," he bounced his knees and was immediately distracted by the way my breasts jiggled right in front of his face. "You're not actually angry. And besides, he wasn't dishing on details. He was just so fuckin' happy, it was kinda sickening actually."

"Hmm…" I slapped his hand away as it crept toward my breast and he groaned before dropping his head against my shoulder. "I thought we were watching Slap Shot again?" I asked, looking down the aisle at where Juice was hooking his iPhone to the system that would hook it up to the two medium sized screens at the front of the bus and all of the smaller screens fitted into the back of each seat. It was Kevin's turn to choose the on bus entertainment.

"Well it's not the fucking Notebook," he snorted and looked amused with his choice as he headed back towards where I was sitting on Kess's lap. I watched the screen and then rolled my eyes as a familiar set of opening credits began; The Hangover, again. Don't get me wrong it's a funny movie, one of the funniest, but it sort of turns half the guys on the team into infants and they know every, single, solitary line and they repeat each and every one of them, out loud, in unison. It's gotten kind of…old.

"I think I'm gonna go help Burr cheat," I muttered, slipping from Kess's lap.

"Ah c'mon Pen, you like this movie," he moaned. I nodded, smiled but continued, carefully towards the back of the bus where Lou, Burr and Cory were trying to teach Tanev how to play poker; or more correctly, how not to lose during the first hand.

"Watch him Lou, he's got a flush," I lied, pressing a kiss to the top of Ginger-Lou's head.

"You're not supposed to help _him_," the back-up reminded me, patting his lap. I was about to take him up on his offer, if only because it pissed Bobby Lou off to have anyone overlooking their game. He took his cards deadly seriously, but another set of eyes at the table made me pause.

"That's not what his wife says," I smirked to which Lou gave me the dirtiest of looks while the rest of the table crowed.

"Yes I hear you're taking orders from the WAGs these days, kind of unfair to us single guys dontcha think?" He smiled, right up into his sky blue eyes, and I cursed my knees for being so god damned weak.

"I'm here to help," I responded with a wink at the man across the table and then promptly settled into the rookie defenseman's lap on Cory's right. I ran my fingers through Tanev's short dark hair and watched him turn a very becoming shade of deep crimson.

"They don't have her down at the farm huh kid?" Higgy asked, tossing his cards down. I wondered if he'd folded because he didn't have a good hand or if because I was distracting him in my leopard print leggings and ripped t-shirt that hung low over my shoulder. My ego hoped it was the latter.

"N-n-n-no," Tanev stammered. It was too easy and too adorable. I ran one fingertip down his throat and felt something shift beneath my thigh. I giggled. He coughed. Everyone else at the table broke up laughing, even Higgy.

I felt my heart swell under my ribs. I hadn't been sure, after I'd left him with his toast and Gatorade, if he'd actually been nice to me or if it had been my imagination. His not getting up and running from the table the moment I'd sat down gave me hope.

"So you gonna take Tanev into the can and make a man of him or are you gonna play?" Lou asked irritably. Reaching over the table I snatched his poker playing visor off his head and stuck it on mine.

"Deal me in Bobby Lou and prepare to get spanked," I grinned.

"Watch it. I think the big guy likes a little paddling. I've seen those boots Gina wears," Higgy laughed and elbowed the goalie in the ribs. Lou rolled his dark eyes.

"Just for that, the buy in is now a hundred bucks. Pay up and prepare to lose."

* * *

The smell of fresh popcorn filled the room as room service wheeled in a cart laden with all manner of late night snacks and goodies. The guys pounced on the cart like they'd been starved for a week. I took a package of m&m's and can of ginger-ale and crawled back up to the head of the bed, hoarding the pillows before the rest of the guys could join me. They'd let the rookie pick the movie and I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to watching it. I wasn't much of a horror movie buff, I don't like to be scared, but I thought watching a slasher flick in a room full of six foot plus professional hockey player seemed pretty…well, safe.

"Is this seat taken?" I looked up and watched Higgy lower himself onto the bed beside me. He had a bag of Skittles and a can of Coke. Can you get much more all American than that?

"I didn't see any place cards," I responded, feeling as nervous as I had back in grade eight when the cute boy sat next to me in math.

"So how many times have you seen this?" he asked, crossing his ankles and pouring a handful of colourful candy into his big hand.

"Me? Never. The whole goalie mask, giant knife combination…not really my thing," I explained. His big blue eyes got soft and it looked like he was about to say something when Burr landed pretty much in the middle of the bed like an overgrown lap dog.

"You can hold me in the scary bits," he suggested in his thick, Quebecois accent, a playful grin on his face.

"Yeah and they _are_ scary. Remember how we talked about doing some man-scaping?" I reminded him which made Kess and Juice giggle like schoolgirls.

"Hush," Burr pinched my leg, making me squeak. "You love all of me, with or without hair."

"Yeah yeah," I wiggled around to get more comfortable and surrendered a pillow to help Alex get cozier too, wedged as he was between my knees. Mace peeked up from his spot on the floor between the beds and held out a hand for some of my candy. I rolled my eyes and placed exactly two into his palm and patted him on the head.

"Bitch," he murmured, glaring at me playfully.

"Glutton," I replied and then leaned further over when I realized Manny had popcorn on the other side of him. "Oooh, gimme!"

Only Burr's presence and Higgy's grip on the back of my shirt prevented me from toppling over the side when I reached down and scooped up enough to keep me satisfied. Chris was chuckling when I landed back in place with two overflowing handfuls of buttery kernels. I dumped them onto my lap where my sleep-shirt pooled enough to make a little pocket and grinned at him. "Score!"

Lappy dimmed the lights and everyone fell silent as the opening credits rolled. I carefully, and as quietly as I could, opened my can of ginger-ale and started to take a sip when someone suddenly grabbed my ankle. I shrieked. Pop and m&m's went everywhere.

"Smart Weezer!" Lappy cuffed the youngster playfully upside the head. I glared at him.

"I'll get you another one," Chris said quietly and slid off the bed. I watched him carefully step over and around his teammates and felt myself smiling.

"Someone's making progress," Kess said quietly from my other side. I nodded silently as I watched him poke around in the goody basket. Apparently there were no more peanut m&m's but he held up a packet of peanut butter ones and I nodded enthusiastically. The smile he aimed at me made the simmer on my panties go up to a full boil.

I intentionally let my fingers brush over and linger against his when he handed me the cold can and he didn't draw his hand away. I blinked up at him, wishing very hard for everyone else to just disappear. He settled in beside me, his powerful thigh pressed up against mine. I didn't care if Jason slashed anyone's throat open after that. My mind was humming along happily, imagining scenario after scenario of what would happen after everyone else left my room, how he would stay and it would finally happen; I'd finally get to see Higgy naked, run my fingers over the indentations of his six-pack and kiss him, for real.

"This is gonna be scary in a minute," he whispered into my ear. I blinked at the screen. I hadn't been following the movie at all. How could I when my hormones were literally in overdrive? "You can hold my hand if you want," he offered, laying his open on top of his thigh, palm up. I stared down at it, my heart beating like a snare drum in my chest. Tentatively I put my hand in his and he curled his fingers closed around mine.

After that I didn't care if the girl in the Victorian nightdress with the golden curls opened the basement door. Chris was holding my hand. I felt as giddy as if I was on a first date.

At the halfway mark, someone hit pause much to the displeasure of everyone in the room, especially me, and a potty break was declared. Lappy flipped the lights back on and everyone got up to either stretch their legs or reload on snacks or use the facilities. Burr wouldn't move, which meant I was stuck in place as well, though I was tempted to climb _under_ the covers for some warmth, mostly because Chris was one of the ones that got up and went back to the snack tray. It felt like a quilt had just been tugged from around my shoulders.

"You cold?" Burr asked. I had to have involuntarily shivered. I shrugged. Alex looked down at his t-shirt as if he actually was considering giving it to me. I shook my head at him and tossed an m&m into his open mouth.

"Here." I looked up to find Chris offering the hoodie he'd been wearing. I didn't know which to stare at first. The hoodie that would still hold his body's warmth and no doubt the scent of his aftershave, or the t-shirt that was probably a size too small that clung to his torso like a second skin.

"Thanks." It took every ounce of self control I had not to hold the thick cotton garment against my face to inhale his scent, but I took my time dragging it over my head and snuggling into it. It was warm and soft and smelled like boy.

"Pretzel?" he tipped his bag towards me.

"Nah," I shook my head, "they make me too thirsty."

"I'll get you another pop," he offered. I shook my head again.

"Then I'd have to pee and Burr would want to come with me 'cuz he's such a scaredy cat," I glanced down to where Burr still had me pinned to the bed.

"I have a nervous disposition," he countered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Pussy," Kess snickered and aimed a kernel of popcorn at Burr's head.

"You're the one always crying on the ice," Burr howled in protest and threw a Smartie right at Kess, and missed, hitting me instead.

"Oh _hell _no," I cried and shoved my heel into his ribs, which made him squirm and kick Macey's head who then turned and pelted Burr with a handful of popcorn. "No…hey, no way you guys are messing up my room. If you want to have a food fight go to Lou's room or something," I cried above the hurled insults. "Behave or you're all out of here," I sighed, picking a kernel of popcorn out of my hair.

"Mmmm sexy school teacher. Daddy likes," Kess purred in my ear.

"You think everything's sexy," I giggled and stuck my elbow into his ribs. I felt the bed move on my other side and looked over. Chris had gotten up and was now sliding down to the floor beside Lappy. I felt bereft, even when he gave me a little smile before offering some of his pretzels to his friend. The bed suddenly felt bigger, colder.

"He made huge progress today, give him a little space," Kess whispered and covered my hand in his, holding it against his stomach. I sighed but kept my gaze forward as Lappy reached up and flicked off the lights.

* * *

I heard the discussion before I walked by the room and I was going to ignore them and carry on with my plans to do a little shopping before it was time to head to the arena. Of course _that _didn't pan out at all.

"… look fine. Ladies love that shit. Penny! She'll tell you, man. Hey, Penny!"

Backtracking, I stood in the open doorway of the room Cody and Dale shared to find Coho staring at his reflection in the mirror as he checked out what I knew had to be a new outfit. Dale was grinning at him and nodding like an idiot. "What's up guys?"

Weise clapped a hand on the kid's shoulder, beaming like a proud parent. "The little guy has himself a date later. He's trying to decide what to wear and we need a chick's opinion."

Cody turned to me and tried to strike a suave looking pose. "Well?"

Oh boy. There had been some attempts to get him into a suit that he hadn't been wearing since junior but obviously the boys had failed to look at updating his everyday clothing. "Um," really, what the hell could I say about what he had picked out? It was obvious he'd wandered into the overgrown children's section of Abercrombie and selected whatever was on the closest mannequin. "It's… great." I forced a smile and took a hesitant step closer, trying not to destroy his delicate male ego.

"It is, right?" Cody turned to check out his ass in the mirror. "Yeah, this looks hot."

Delicate… male… ego.

"Absolutely," I assured him, coming closer. "I should warn you though. I got a call from Gary Bettman earlier. He wants his pants back."

Dale cracked up and fell backwards on the bed behind us, laughing himself out of breath. Cody frowned at me and looked down at his pants. "Why? What's wrong with the pants?"

"The simple fact that you're asking me that makes me worried for you." I pointed to the hems, nearly an inch shorter than they should have been. "Did you even try them on in the store, kid?"

"They're my size," he said defensively. "C'mon, I was in a hurry!"

"Yeah well, we can't have you representing the team looking like that," I sighed, looking him over and measuring the stocky winger with my eyes. "Dale, get Hammer and ask him to bring his purple dress shirt and slate dress pants," I smirked. Dale slipped out of the room and I heard him giggling to himself all the way down the hallway. "So who's the lucky girl?" I asked, leaning in the doorway.

"Just a girl…online…whatever." He blushed a deep scarlet colour infusing his cheeks and turned his face away. I rolled my eyes.

"Isn't that _exactly _what you're supposed to be avoiding by having me around?" I asked. CoHo looked at me with an entirely blank expression. "Picking up loose pucks?" I continued, waiting for him to pick up what I was putting down. He continued to stare at me with no comprehension whatsoever in his eyes. "You're not supposed to be hooking up with random fuck buddies," I finally pointed out with extra emphasis on that '_not_'.

"Oh she's not…I mean I don't plan to…," he mumbled and then looked away.

"Then have her meet us at the club after the game," Hammer said quietly as he entered the room, his carefully folded clothes held between his hands like they were silver and gold not cotton and wool. CoHo opened his mouth to disagree but something in Hammer's face made it crystal clear that it wasn't a suggestion.

"You coming?" Dale asked. I didn't normally go. Not that I don't like clubs, I actually like to dance, but most night I had a pre-arranged sleep over with one of the guys but it was Boston and all the guys wanted to go out and enjoy some of the local bars, the cold drinks and the short skirts.

"Sure," I said thinking about a shimmery silver number I had in my case that I hadn't found a reason to wear yet.

"I get the first dance," Dale grinned, grabbing me and salsa'ing me around the room before dipping me deeply and running his tongue up the arch of my neck like it was already lined with lime and salt.

* * *

"You can't take it personally," I sighed, running my thumb along the back of Cody's hand. He nodded but the expression in his eyes told an entirely different story. "You have to remember, you're still a rookie, even if you don't feel like one," I reminded him.

"I should be getting more minutes by now," the curly haired rookie sighed and continued to stare at his teammates working on the ice. He'd been given a maintenance day. Any other job and that would have been an excuse to sleep in and then hit the shops in the afternoon. In hockey it either meant you were injured, or in this young first round pick's case that Coach V wanted him to sit and think about the request he'd made...no, request he'd demanded.

"You're doing good things out there. You're fast. You change direction like a water-bug," I pointed out, turning his hand over and running my fingertip along the lifeline on his palm. It was long and so was his money line. "You're getting lots of shots which is more than can be said for some of the other guys." I glanced towards the ice, to where Kess and Manny were bent over one of the face off dots. Manny was winning over and over again. I couldn't see the frustration in Kess's face from here but I knew how determined he would be looking, the grim set of his features, the focus in his eyes. There were a few guys struggling, but Kess was having as hard a time as CoHo was accepting his lack of production.

"But the Coach doesn't get it," he whined again and snatched his hand away. It wasn't true but then that's why I was here. Both AV and Bones had grown weary of the kids' complaints. Third line centers had to accept their role. It was part of growing as a player, knowing your role. I could see how hard it was to swallow, especially knowing that guys he'd played with were already playing a bigger role on other teams.

"You could be playing for a team like the Leafs that won't make the playoffs, again," I pointed out but Cody only rolled his eyes and continued to glare at the ice.

"How can I get better if I don't get more playing time?" he snapped. It was a tune that the other players had already grown deaf to and the administration was tired of hearing from him.

"By listening to the older guys, doing things like Kess is now. You know Ryan's great at face-offs but he's always challenging himself," I re-iterated just as Ryan finally pulled a puck back between his legs, a clean win. He didn't raise his arms in triumph or make any sign that he'd won. He kept his crouch and put the blade of his stick back on the dark dot on the ice.

"I could have the rookie scoring race in the bag if they'd give me more ice time." This was a point that neither I nor any of the guys could argue with. With that Nugent Hopkins kid down with a shoulder injury and the way Code's had been contributing, he was probably right but that wasn't the title that the Coach, or Gillis or anyone else on the team wanted.

"You have to keep your eye on the _real_ prize," I reminded him, reaching across his body to turn his baby face towards mine. His gaze softened when he looked at me and it made me smile. "I can't say for sure but I think if you get that then you won't give a flying fuck about some scoring title." He smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"You're easy to talk to you, y'know?" he said quietly and reached up to wind a strand of my hair around his finger. I smiled back at him and let my hand trail down to his chest. I hadn't had a night with the rookie yet. I'd teased him and Tanev plenty but I hadn't actually gone all the way with either of them yet. As I looked at him now I wondered if it would help him to settle in but just as I was about to lean in and press a kiss to his thin, almost colourless lips, a puck ricocheted off the seat in front of us, just barely missing the rookie's knees.

I screeched and pulled my knees up against my chest. Cody, obviously more used to having pucks come close enough to graze his skin, merely glared towards the ice and the player standing at the glass glaring back.

Chris.

Even from here I could see murder in his eyes as he glowered at us and part of my brain wanted to curl into a ball and shake like a leaf to be stared at with that kind of lethal intensity but that was only the part of my brain that wasn't doing a jig of pure and unadulterated joy and screaming 'I win, I win'.

"C'mon," I said, holding my hand out to CoHo and ignoring the rapid beating of my heart, "let's get back to the hotel and order lunch before anyone else gets back." Maybe it was rubbing salt in the wound but so had his choosing Lappy for a movie buddy for the second half of the film.

* * *

"I fucking love this song!" I shrieked, grabbing Lappy's hand and dragging him out onto the packed dance floor. We managed, just, to squeeze into the press of bodies gleaming in sweat and bouncing on the floor to the dance hall beat of Shaggy's 'Fired Up'. Max's hands were on my hips and I was grinding and popping against him, grinning as the crowd sang along to the simple chorus.

"Back that up baby," Max laughed into my ear and gave my ass a playful slap.

"Oh you like that huh?" I called over my shoulder and then reached back to twine one arm around his neck. I was thinking about kissing him, being that girl that necked with the hot guy in the middle of the dance floor and then I caught another pair of dancers intensely engaged in a game of tonsil hockey.

I felt my blood boil. I told myself that I'd asked for it, that by leaving the rink with the rookie when he'd made it perfectly clear that he was unhappy about it, that I'd begged for it, but the sight of the blonde with her arms wrapped around his thick neck and her breasts pressed up against his massive chest had me seeing red.

Max felt me stop moving before he did and then I heard him say something in French, one of those phrases that never makes sense to me but I know is a curse. I turned and grabbed his handsome, roguish face in my hands and tried to pull it towards me but he wrapped his big hands around my forearms and shook his head.

"Non ma petite, even my ego cannot take being used like that," he said as he pried my hands away and held me at arms' length. "You want him, you go scratch her eyes out but leave me out of it, d'accord?" I growled to make it clear that I was unhappy with his unwillingness to play along and then turned my back and stormed off the dance floor.

I found Kev and his defense partner Hammer sipping their beer slowly, the two married men living vicariously through their single teammates. Tanev and CoHo were both dirty dancing with what looked to be very willing partners and even Max had already found another girl to take my place. None of that bothered me. That blonde bitch suck facing with Chris however, made me dig my fingernails into my palms until the pain made my brain scream for mercy.

"You know what makes it worse?" Juice whispered in my ear, his gaze following mine back out onto the dance floor, "she's wearing a Thomas t-shirt. I mean, how low can you go?" I stared at the yellow printing across her back that I hadn't noticed before and growled again. That was too low a blow.

"Boys, you're going to need another pitcher," I hissed, grabbing the still half full one from their table.

"Hey, hey, don't get us kicked out," Kev laughed, easily grabbing me around the waist and, with one arm, tugged me back towards him. A sound that was pure fury and frustration escaped my lips and I heard Kevin laugh. "Some chowda guzzlin' Boston mutt isn't worth you getting arrested over," he reminded me quietly as he successfully pried the pitcher of sudsy golden ale from my hand.

"Someone needs to tell him he needs to cool his jets," I hissed like a snake, glaring at him, willing him to take his lips off that disease ridden Boston whore. "He's embarrassing the whole team," I added, turning to plead with Hammer who tilted his head to the side and gave me one of those 'now, now' looks that made my hands curl into fists.

Kevin peeled one of my hands open and forced a tall glass into it, but before I could down it in one gulp, it was taken right out of my hand. I turned a furious gaze onto the culprit and found myself looking up into Chris's cool, blue gaze.

"Problem?" he asked, looking right into my eyes like he was daring me to admit everything right there. I clenched my teeth and stared back at him.

"Is that the best you can do?" I asked, willing the words to come out slowly, my body not to tremble. He stared at me for a moment that seemed to stretch into forever and then the corner of his mouth turned up in a snarl.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her later, when she can barely walk well enough to leave my room."

I felt like one of those cartoon characters, where the whistle goes off and steam comes out of their ears. I was certain that my eyes spun back in my head and that I heard sirens or ahooga horns going off in my brain. I wanted to call him names but I couldn't make my tongue form the words. I wanted to slap him, but my hand closed instead on the handle of the half full pitcher of beer and the next thing I knew all of those suds where flying, in super slow motion, through the air.

Chris shook like a wet dog and then focused his furious gaze on me. I opened my mouth to say something, to tell him he deserved it, and then realized that there were big fat tears in my eyes and that the lump of emotion that should not have been there was stopping me from breathing, never mind talking, so I turned on my heel and strode away without saying a word.

I slid the now empty pitcher back onto the table and reached blindly for Kev's hand.

"I need you right now," I hissed at him, using my other hand to brush away the tears of shame, humiliation and hurt that were now streaking down my face. He didn't question it, or me. He followed like an obedient and well trained pet on my heels, even as I passed the table where Kess was chatting up two red heads. I grabbed his hand and spun him, dragging him with us. Like Kev he didn't complain, didn't utter a single syllable. In face he slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me tight against his body, turning my face into him to shield me from prying eyes until we were out on the street.

I heard him ask Kevin what happened. I blocked out his answer because I didn't want to hear it explained out loud and then he tipped my face up and searched it with a worried gaze.

"What do you need Pen?" he asked, the pad of his thumb stroking my chin.

"You…_both _of you," I hiccupped. "I just need you to make me not think right now," I explained and then burst into tears.

* * *

"You never light up like that when you look at me," Kess hissed as he drove the crown of my head ever closer to the headboard. I reached back with the hand that wasn't currently stroking Kevin's thick, long cock and pressed my palm flat against the hardwood and pushed.

"Less talking, more fucking," I reminded him, putting my Kegle exercises to work and squeezing my muscles around his dick until his eyes rolled back in his head and he groaned out loud.

"He has a point," Kev began, until I squeezed his magical wand so hard he whimpered.

"_I. Don't. Want. To. Talk_!" I growled and dug my heels into the back of Ryan's thighs and guided Kev's dick over my tongue and down to the back of my throat. I felt his fingers dig into my scalp and smiled around his member. His other hand wasn't far behind, grabbing a fistful of my hair and forcing my mouth down over his cock until I was gagging. Most times such an act would have earned a firm ass smack to remind him to play nice but tonight it was exactly what I needed. A little physical pain chased away the open wounds that were ripping my heart into pieces.

"This probably isn't going to help," I heard Ryan say. I slid my hand down the headboard and reached up for his always unruly hair. Letting Kevin slip from my lips, I forced his mouth down over mine to silence him. Maybe this wasn't the right reaction. Maybe this would ruin any chances I had with Chris forever, but right at that moment I didn't want to think about that and I certainly didn't want to think about that slut putting her lips anywhere on him.

I felt Kevin's mouth close around one of my nipples, his teeth digging into the tender and ultra sensitive skin, his lips tugging upwards on the tight, pink little bud. The shiver of pain that ran through my entire body chased away the vision of that Bruins bitch's mouth on Higgins'. His fingers sliding down over my stomach and into my slippery hot folds made me forget all about him.

My back bowed and I almost levitated off of the bed. Kess looked down at me with the same intensity in his eyes that our opponents so often see when they line up across from him on the ice. It sent a shiver straight through me. With one motion that took super human strength and made his abdominals ripple, he straightened, grabbed hold of the headboard and shoved himself balls deep inside of me.

"So you don't want to think?" he asked in a voice that was more the throaty growl of a tiger than something that should have been able to come out of a human voice box. I shook my head. He smiled, but just with one side of his mouth. "Well okay then," he smirked, rocked his hips back and then shoved the entire length of his cock into me again.

I squeaked, a noise soon muffled as Kev palmed the back of my skull like a basketball and shoved his cock into my mouth. I looked up at him, gratitude filling my eyes along with the salty splash of tears. His other hand brushed along my cheekbone, understanding clear in his big blue eyes.

"No thinking allowed," he said quietly and I nodded, as best I could, with my mouth full.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Heartbreak builds character. Or at least that's what I continually tried to tell myself after the Boston blow up. In the days following that fateful night, I resolved to turn things around, to get my head on straight even if my insides felt like a mess of jagged mismatched puzzle pieces.

While I would have liked to curl into the fetal position and lick my wounds without an audience, it was glaringly apparently that my actions strongly impacted the team's mood as well. The guys were great, really great, but I could see the concern in their eyes when they looked at me and the level of tension in the room skyrocketed whenever Higgy and I happened to be in it at the same time. That wasn't good. We were heading into the stretch drive and their focus needed to be on the ice, not on the emotional well being of their auxiliary employee. And really, I had to remember that. I was there to enhance their game, not to subtract from it.

So I while they tried to focus on what was happening on the ice I did my best to bring my A game off of it. I made the effort to laugh a little louder, smile a little brighter, and refused to let myself think outside of the moment at hand and it appeared to be working. The guys seemed to relax a bit, there was less anxiety all around, and we all got back into the groove of being ourselves again.

For the most part.

So what if, in those rare quiet moments when I was on my own, I spent the time waiting for one of them to need me, to ask me to do something, anything, just to keep from getting drawn under… to keep from having to listen to the voices in my head that were waiting for me, that were waiting to drag me under, to drown me in my own personal, private hell. I thought I was doing a great job. I didn't think anyone could tell what was really going on.

"Of course we can tell," Kess scoffed, peeling his t-shirt off and leaning over the tub in my master bathroom to test the water temperature, "you're not that good of an actor, Sugar." I rolled my eyes and swung my legs back and forth, perched on the marble counter next to the sink.

"This from Captain Dive." He fixed me with a glare over his shoulder and I stuck out my tongue.

"The point is, you're not actually fooling anyone." Ryan was the only person I was completely honest with and that was largely related to his history with the last girl in my position. If anyone could relate to the situation, it was him.

"Lou thinks I'm fine. Cory thinks I'm fine. Cody thinks I'm awesome."

"Um, two of them are goalies," he waved a hand in dismissal as he looked around for a familiar bottle, "and Cody still sleeps in Superman pajamas. Where is...?"

"Under the sink," I chewed the inside of my cheek and watched him dig out the vanilla scented bubble bath he had developed an appreciation for the last time we did this. "None of them have said anything otherwise. And it's not like it matters anyway. In the grand scheme of things, how I'm feeling doesn't really matter."

"Of course it does," he frowned.

"It shouldn't."

"But it does. Of course it fucking does!" he snapped, tossing bottle onto the counter beside me. "You know, I don't understand how you could spend as much time with us as you do, as intimately as you do, learn all our habits as well has you have and still not fucking get it! Jesus, Penny." Well he didn't have to yell about it. Seriously, the last thing I needed was to have him mad at me too.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, dropping my head. I heard him swear again and the deep measured breath he took before crossing the floor to nudge his hips between my knees.

"Look at me." Stubbornly I kept my gaze on my lap and he sighed, placing his palms on either side of my legs, caging me in. "I know how much you care about us. We all know. And you need to remember that it goes both ways. How we feel about you goes so much deeper than sex, okay? No one wants to see you hurting. And no, no one is going to say anything about it because they can't." He shifted and rubbed his hands along my arms. "Kev is beside himself, he doesn't know what to do. Burr has become your fucking shadow when you're out with us, and if I have to hear any more of his lame attempts to make you laugh I'm going to punch him in the sack." That brought a smile to my lips because I had noticed that Alex had turned into a truly pathetic stand-up comic lately.

"He's not that bad."

"Knock knock jokes aren't any funnier in French than they are in English." I snorted, which made him smile but my smile faded at the edges. The fact was, my act wasn't as good as I'd originally thought and that was a problem.

"I guess I should try harder then."

"Or," he said, "you should just focus on the fact that even though Chris has his head up his ass, the rest of us love you. And we want you to be okay. Okay?" I nodded and felt him kiss the top of my head before he stepped away to strip his jeans down his muscular legs. "Of course, it wouldn't hurt if you did make more of an effort to eat once in a while."

"What?" My head shot up. "I eat."

"Uh huh, right," he replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm as his gaze settled on me with a single, sardonically raised eyebrow.

"I do!" I insisted as I hopped off the counter and faced him. He gripped the hem of my sweatshirt.

"Up." Obediently I lifted my arms. "When was the last time you had a full meal?"

"This morning," I told him. "Jannik came by with muffins and took control of my coffee machine." He reached back and unhooked my bra one handed.

"I'm not even going to get into the fact that muffins are not an actual meal. What about before this morning?"

"I had waffles yesterday morning," I crowed. Waffles were so totally a meal; especially when they were paired with fresh orange juice and topped with strawberries. I'd been quite surprised that Jannik had the skills to pull off such detailed… oh. Kes smirked at me, knowing things were coming together in my head.

"And before that?" Fuck.

"Hank took me out to lunch." It had been a huge lunch that took me forever to get through since I hadn't done more than pick at it in small bites. He reached over and shut off the taps then motioned for me to take my pants off.

"Hank is two seconds away from either moving you into his house or packing a bag to stay here and inserting a feeding tube."

"Oh my God," I rolled my eyes and accepted his hand for assistance to step into the fragrant hot water. "I'm not that bad."

"Maybe not yet, but you get that we're worried, right?" His grin turned lecherous as he sat down and wrapped his big hands around my hips before I could sink beneath the suds. "And we all have a vested interest in your curves."

"Pervert." He chuckled and guided me down for a kiss. "You love me." Yeah. I did.

* * *

"It's like a mini holiday," Danny assured me as we waited for Hank to sign us in.

"A _working _holiday," Eddie mumbled, staring down at his feet. There was a pair of young girls giggling behind their iPhones and taking pictures of us. Rat Face…I mean, Eddie's girlfriend Amanda had been decidedly unhappy when she was cordially un-invited on the weekend getaway. She'd gone nuclear when she found out that I was going with the three Swedes. Any pictures of us together would only throw gasoline on the fire while we were gone and Eddie knew it.

"But we still have a job to do, right?" Hank reminded all of us as he rejoined our group and picked up his bag. It was strange to see them carrying their equipment bags. Usually that was taken care of by the equipment managers but there were no equipment managers this weekend. At least not until we go to the rink. "We're representing our team," our captain reminded us gravely. "That means all of us," he added looking right at me. I beamed back at him. I was excited to be invited along, excited to see some of the other players in a situation that wasn't so game day serious.

"Aye Aye Captain," I clicked my heels together and saluted, which never failed to make Henrik laugh. "I mean it," he said, his blue eyes twinkling, "I don't want you to forget whose side you're on," he added with a wink. I felt my stomach churn in anticipation. Eddie looked at me and then at the twins and back to me with a puzzled look on his face.

"I won't," I promised, slipping one arm around Danny's waist and one around Hank's. "I'm a very loyal girl," I added, giving Hank a hip bump.

"Is someone going to explain what's going on?" Eddie asked, frowning.

"After we settle in, remember to give me one of the swipe cards for your room," Hank told him and then steered us all towards the elevator.

* * *

I changed literally ten times, standing in front of the long mirror in the hallway of the room I was temporarily sharing with the twins, analyzing each outfit with a critical eye. It was one thing to dress for my boys, as I'd come to think of them, but it was quite another thing to dress for a complete stranger.

"Do you think the garter belt is too much?" I asked, turning sideways so that I could see the top of the stockings where they attached to thin black belt through the high slit in the narrow black skirt.

"I like it," Danny smiled over top of the magazine he was reading as he sat up against the mountain of pillows at the head of the bed.

"You need a different belt, something wider will give you more…definition," Hank suggested. I looked down at the thin, black patent belt with the small gold buckle and frowned.

"Oh god, not you too!" I complained, turning to face the room and staring down the brothers. Danny became engrossed in his magazine and Hank turned to stare at the curling match he was watching on the TV. "Oh my god…I eat! I ate on the plane" I exclaimed turning back to the mirror. I turned sideways and ran my hand down over my stomach.

"We understand," Danny offered like an olive branch.

"Yeah," Hank agreed, suddenly appearing behind me and pressing a tender kiss to cheek while he slid his bigger hands down over mine. "It's just that we all kind of all liked you a little…softer." I felt a lump gather in my throat despite the sweet sincerity in his tone. I was nervous enough about tonight and insecure enough naturally without adding worrying about my weight too.

"I'll help you pick some girl off the street. I can't do this," I muttered, trying to back up but the Canucks' captain was behind me like a solid wall of steel.

"You'll be the prettiest girl there," he assured me. I rolled my eyes but I didn't disagree with him. It was nice to hear, even if I didn't believe it. It was kind of like having your dad tell you that; you knew he had to say it because it was his job to but it still felt good.

"Oh god…what if I get picked by...," I shuddered as the taste of bile rose in my throat, "Chara or Thomas?" I heard Danny laugh behind us and peered around Hank's sizeable form to see why.

"We have an agreement," he replied with a shrug and then looked at his brother. Hank nodded and pressed another kiss to my cheek. "We won't get theirs, they won't get ours. Everyone else will get to pick though," he added softly, reticently, as if he expected me to react like I had when he'd first explained what would happen tonight.

The All-Star Fantasy Draft was one thing. Behind closed doors, the All-Star Fantasy Draft was something else entirely. Every team was represented by their Specialist who was offered up as a trade for an evening of… entertainment… with a player from a different team. I could appreciate Hank being careful while facing me now. I might have gone a little off the deep end when I had learned the details of how I would be spending my so-called "break". If I'd thought to reach down I would have checked to see if he was wearing a cup. I hadn't done any actual damage to the poor guy but I had been very, very angry. Though once I had calmed down and had some time to absorb the idea, my anger shifted into curiosity. Then it became interest. And now I could admit that beneath the sheen of anxiety, I was more than a little excited.

"It's too bad Sidney's injured," I grinned up at him and was rewarded with a broad smile that made Hank's sky blue eyes crinkle at the corners.

"Not everyone," Eddie interjected, reappearing from the bathroom where he'd been trying to straighten his tie on his own. I sighed and reached out to loosen the knot. "There are only thirty Specialists and…how many players here?" I looked back at Hank, who, in turn looked back at Danny who merely shrugged.

"Yeah the rookies don't get their names thrown in," Danny agreed. Eddie heaved a sigh. Reaching up I cupped his cheek with my hand and gave it a pat.

"I'll make sure you get some special attention later Eddie." He turned his head so he could press a kiss to the palm of my hand.

"I'll hold you to that," he whispered in his soft, lyrical accent. I grinned up at him and a smile finally appeared on his face.

"Shall we go?" Hank asked, appearing at my side with the wider belt he'd suggested earlier held out towards me in one hand, his sleek, finely tailored jacket in the other.

"Yeah, just give me two ticks," I replied, taking the belt and hastening into the bathroom to brush my teeth and double check my makeup.

* * *

"Is that what you're wearing?"

We were lined up like cows waiting to go into an abattoir and I had been so busy listening to the sound of my blood pulsing wildly through my veins and Daniel Alfredsson explaining the rules that I hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to the other women lined up with me. I peered into the almost complete darkness at the blonde in front of me.

"I'm sorry?"

"That get up, the sexy lawyer thing, was that your choice or your captain's?" I looked down at the nearly transparent white blouse I was wearing that peeked out of the slate grey blazer that flared just a little over my hips and the slightly fuller legged matching trousers that went right down and almost but didn't quite hide the very high spike heeled black pointed toed shoes Hank had chosen and shrugged.

"Both, I guess," I replied truthfully. My original skirt idea had been nixed at the last possible second when Hank spied the shoes in my suitcase. He was almost as bad a Lou when it came to shoes. Blondie aimed a very patronizing smile at me and then tossed her over teased and over sprayed hair over her shoulder. It moved like a cloud of spun sugar.

"I guess you didn't get the memo," she added with a smug look down at the jersey she was wearing; a Bruins jersey that was artfully torn at the neck so that it dropped over her bare shoulder. It didn't look like she was wearing much else, aside from the pair of thigh high black patent leather platform boots. I glanced behind me at the Specialist from San Jose. She was wearing a light cocktail dress in a light blues and greys; Sharks colours.

"Don't worry," the Bruins Specialist smirked, "maybe Quick will pick you and then you won't stand out like _such_ a sore thumb." I had the overwhelming urge to pull her hair and maybe stomp on her face but just as I nearly raised my hand to grab a hold of her too blonde extensions we were all called out onto the stage.

The lights in the hall were dazzling, at first, and I had to shade my eyes to look into the auditorium and see all of the players in their expensive suits sitting in the audience, looking over the group like we were a bunch of prize heifers at a 4-H auction. This was the part I'd balked at the most when Hank and Danny had told me about tonight's festivities. I'd had visions of wet t-shirt contests and bikini mud wrestling until Hank had promised me that this would be handled in a far classier manner. Too bad Patrick Kane's wolf whistling and Scott Hartnell waggling his tongue at us brought down the tone immediately

"So everyone knows the rules, each of the players will choose a team card from the bowl and that will be the lady he escorts for the evening. Good luck gentleman."

A buzz went up from the audience and the sense of being an object disappeared. I rolled my shoulders back, tilted my chin up and felt a rush of adrenalin at the idea of not knowing whose hands were going to be sliding over my skin tonight. Funny how just a little dose of competitive juices flowing through your veins could erase all signs of fear.

I barely registered when the first two picks were made. I watched the Specialist for the Caps giggle as she linked arms with Scotty Hartnell and I barely registered the LA Specialist in her black skintight leather pants and white crop top slither across the stage much to the delight of Patrick Kane. I only really focused in on what was going on as I watched Hank make his way up the stairs to the stage.

"He's _so_ mine." I blinked and then turned to stare at the Bruins specialist. She was looking more than just a little pleased with herself.

"What are you talking about? There's a deal…," I began only to watch her smirk grow into a full grown malevolent sneer.

"Silly bitch, don't you know deals are meant to be broken?" she purred and then batted her long, fake eyelashes at me. "Oh and be sure to say hi to RyRy for me when you're next sucking his cock," she added, making a show of licking her lips and tossing her ridiculous hair.

"You?" I gaped at her, like a kid walking in on her parents doing it. I shook my head. I couldn't envision him…with _her_. Though his aggression during (and after) the Boston game made more sense than ever now.

"Oh please. Are you trying to tell me he doesn't talk about me all the time?" She grinned at me like she was certain of the answer. I grinned back at her, glad to crush her ego.

"No, _never_ actually," I smiled and batted my eyelashes back at her, enjoying watching her self-satisfied grin implode.

Hank also didn't choose her. He actually pulled a blank card, as did Danny and the next five players. The next player up, however, sent a buzz down the line of girls, every last one of whom was hoping her card would be the one he pulled. Every single set of eyes focused on his hand as it dipped into the bowl. A sigh rose up when his other hand pushed his hair back out of his eyes.

He looked down at the card in his hand and a slow, drop dead sexy smile spread across his face before he looked up and he straight down the line directly at me.

"Have fun," the girl from San Jose beside me reached out and gave my hand a squeeze.

"Oh I will," I whispered, staring at him all the while as I headed for the hand he held outstretched towards me.

* * *

"I was hoping it would be your key," he whispered into my ear in his sexy soft accent as we stood at the back of the elevator. My eyes were glued to the little numbers lighting up over our heads, counting down the floors until the doors would open and I'd be leading him to my room.

"I think all the girls were hoping it would be theirs," I told him truthfully, watching as he ran his hand through his hair every time it fell into his dark eyes. He looked across at me and smiled but not in a way that suggested he knew that he was the hottest guy in the room, but in a way that made me feel as if he had won the prize and not me.

"I've heard a lot about you," he added with an appreciative glance towards my cleavage. I frowned. The league hadn't quite reached the trade deadline and the only trade to the team so far had been Grizz. I didn't remember his ever mentioning that he knew the Penguin's dark haired defenseman. "Lappy," he explained with a slow seductive smile, bringing our joined hands up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the back of my hand.

"Oh…_oh_!" I felt my cheeks get hot as he watched me with his dark depthless eyes. There were only so many things that Max could have said about me, considering most of the interactions I had with him, though always fun, were of the knocking boots variety. He didn't get to expand on what he knew, as the doors opened to reveal a group of the rookies waiting to get in, staring at us with a mixture of longing and jealousy. The fact that they could be standing in Kris' shoes next year was written all over their faces.

Kris nodded to them then led me out of the elevator and down the hall. I felt my heart start to race like it had that first night with Kess and I wondered if he could feel it in the way I was holding onto him like he was the ledge and I was trying not to slide off.

He handed me the key card and with a shaking hand I slid it down the reader, watching with baited breath for each light to turn green. I felt his free hand creep up to the nape of my neck, his fingers digging into the knot there and I sent out a silent thank you to Lappy for passing on _that_ particular piece of information.

As I pushed the handle down and the door clicked open his hand slid down to the small of my back and like a gentleman he guided me into the suite. When I reached to flick on the lights his free hand flattened mine to the wall and with the full weight of his body he pressed me to the wall.

"I hear you like it a little rough," he whispered hoarsely into my ear as the hand that had been on the small of my back slid around and up beneath my jacket to cup my breast.

"Sometimes," I replied breathlessly, my heart racing for an entirely different reason. I could feel his thumb working at my nipple, flicking it to life and I had to bite down on my bottom lip to stifle a groan.

"I heard you like it hard and fast," he added, pressing his burgeoning erection against the top of my backside. I closed my eyes and smiled at images of him moving above me, all that silken dark hair falling around his handsome face as he drove me into the headboard.

"Yessss," I replied in a gasp as he pinched my nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger through the fabric of the blouse I was wearing. Using his body to keep me pressed to the wall he let go of my other hand and slid his down the front of my body until he found the snap on the my pants which he deftly opened. I clenched my teeth together as his fingers continued further, delving into my already slick folds.

"I also heard you like it really slow," he whispered, his mouth brushing softly over my jumping pulse.

"S..s…sometimes," I managed, just barely, as he pressed the tips of two fingers over my clit and began to move them in firm, slow circles.

"I'm going to fuck you hard and fast," he promised, rubbing his now very hard - and by the feel of it - very _large_ erection against my ass, "and then, ma chèrie, I am going fuck you slow and make you scream my name, d'accord?" I whimpered and managed to nod. "Parfait, I am glad we are in agreement. Now let's get you out of this…," he growled into my neck and I shuddered. "By the way, this outfit…très chic. Very…classy. I like it," he added and then bit down on my neck.

"Ohhhhh gggooodddd," I moaned, pressing my forehead to the wall, a wide, happy grin on my face.

* * *

"Your team is very lucky," he mused, brushing the hair that was stuck in the sweat on my cheek back and then cupping my cheek in the palm of his hand.

"Uh-huh," was all the answer I could manage, grinning up at him. I felt like every bone in my body had been turned into liquid. I couldn't even raise a hand to run my fingers through his long, dark hair. It was still perfect as if he hadn't exerted himself in the least.

"Especially one guy…or that's what I hear," he added with a bemused expression.

I frowned. "I don't do favoritism," I blurted out defensively and then immediately wanted to take it back. I guess I did, sort of, with Kess and Juice but…that was _two_ guys.

"Sorry, I guess what I _should_ have said," he grinned, rolling onto his back and stacked both arms behind his head so his perfectly formed chest was on display and his biceps bulged, "was that one guy in particular has a thing for _you_." I blinked at the ceiling and then rolled over so that I was looking down into the Pens' defenseman's handsome face.

"Who?" I asked, going through the roster in my head. If anyone it was probably Tanev. I'd been teasing him pretty relentlessly. But then again it could have been Cody….

"No, that would be telling and what happens on the ice…," he smiled up at me and then yawned and closed his eyes.

"Oh no you don't," I snarled and climbed over him, straddling his hips with only a thin sheet twisted between us. "You can't just say something like that and then not tell me," I added, flexing my fingers right above his chest, the deep blood red nail polish on my fingernails catching the half light looking as menacing as I'd hoped they would next to his lily white, unmarked skin.

"Why does it matter?" he asked, running his hands up my thighs. "You can't get involved with anyone anyway." I blinked down at him. He was right, of course, but I wanted to know anyway. I wanted to know because _he_ seemed to know Max and the guy who hung around with _Max_ the most was….

"Chris?" I asked, his name catching in the back of my throat. I knew it. I mean he'd told me himself at Christmas time but since then everything had gone so wrong and he seemed to hate me but if he'd said something to Max…. "Well?" I said, grabbing his hands and pinning them to the mattress on either side of his Kris's head. "_Is _it?"

"You like him," Kris smirked up at me, his sexy dark eyes glinting in the moonlight. He tilted his head to one side and regarded me with an amused but sympathetic look. "Is it true he won't have sex with you?" I growled, let go of him and rolled away, putting my back to the sexy Frenchman.

"Yes," I replied curtly, staring at the wall and inwardly cursing Higgy, his adorable grin and his big blue eyes. I felt Kris curl his bigger body around mine and dig his chin into my shoulder.

"If I may say, il est un imbecile. I am going to be bragging to everyone at the skills tomorrow how amazing you are," he whispered in my ear and then pressed a soft kiss to my shoulder. "Vous êtes très belle, verrrrry sexy," he added, rolling his r's which he'd also done when he'd been going down on me and it send a shiver straight down my spine making my girl bits clench deliciously. "And that thing you do with your tongue, mon dieu," he added with a chuckle.

"He thinks I'm a slut," I whispered into the darkness surrounding us. Kris squeezed me like an anaconda and made an unhappy sound deep in his throat.

"Not all women can be satisfied by one man," he said with a sigh, "but unless he shares…how will he know?" It was a question that had been running through my mind since the first fight we'd had in Kess's driveway.

"How do I get him to do that when he won't even touch me?" I asked quietly, that leaden puck I always felt in the pit of my stomach every time I thought about Chris felt larger and heavier than usual.

"My advice would be to get naked and be waiting in his bed," he chuckled, his hand moving up from around my waist to cup one of my breasts. "Je pense que vous êtes irresistible," he added, biting playfully at my shoulder, "even if Lappy said you were a little softer than you are."

"Holy fuck! Not you too." I all but threw my arms in the air. "Fine, order some fucking room service!"

* * *

"So, did you enjoy your night off?"

I looked up from fruit cup, in which I was trying to dig around the cantaloupe for the strawberries and grapes and found Holly sitting across the table from me, a mug of something hot held in both of her hands.

"Night off?" I asked, stabbing a red grape and lifting it to my mouth. Holly grinned briefly and then put her mug down glancing toward the table where Kris was currently sitting with Steven Stamkos from Tampa and his Pen's teammate Neal who had made the cut since Ovechkin was serving a suspension. "I think I got about an hour's sleep, but if you call that a night off, then…" I thought about my answer for a moment and smiled, "it was a nice distraction." My response seemed to satisfy her and Holly sat back in her seat and picked up her mug again, regarding me over it with her head tilted to the side.

"I'm glad. When I saw you checking in yesterday you looked…tired." I did my best not to roll my eyes. It seemed as though suddenly everyone had turned into my mother.

"I'm fine," I replied as brightly as I could, reaching for the little metal teapot and raising the lid to check on the status of my brewed tea. I prefer it strong enough to stand a spoon in it.

"Getting along with everyone?" I pulled on the string of the tea bag, swirling it around in the hot water as I carefully considered my next reply. I could tell, just by her tone, that she wasn't just asking the question to fill dead air.

"No one can please everyone all the time," I replied honestly while being intentionally vague at the same time. I put the top down on the teapot and tipped the steaming and fragrant liquid into my cup.

"So the scuttlebutt I'm hearing about Chris Higgins…?" she made it a question, her voice rising at the end. I knew if I looked up at her that her eyebrows would be raised and she'd be watching me expectantly but I had to keep my head down. I knew if I looked up she'd be able to read everything from my expression alone and I silently cursed my parents for giving me such an honest face.

"Chris just…he doesn't agree with what I do," I shrugged, reaching for a packet of Sweet and Low taking my time tearing it open and shaking it into my tea. She was silent for a long moment while I deliberately took my time stirring the sweetener into my mug and I knew she was waiting for me to say more. I racked my brain for something else to say that wouldn't be incriminating but all I could think of, especially after what Kris had told me, were questions like `how do I get him to accept me?' and `is it okay if I'm more than in a little in love with one of the players?'.

"So…there's nothing going on with the two of you?" My head snapped up and my gaze met hers before I'd had a chance to remind myself to keep my head down. Juice was right; hockey players really were as bad as high school girls.

"No!" Maybe it was too emphatic an answer but her eyebrows both went up and her lips curled into the kind of smile that said that she thought I was protesting too quickly and too loudly. So I repeated my answer more quietly, in a more controlled tone and then took a sip of the still too hot tea. It scalded the roof of my mouth.

"Well you know if you're forming a special kind of attachment to one player it adversely effects the relationship you have with the other players on the team," she reminded me carefully, watching me over the rim of her coffee cup with eyes that felt like they were boring into my sole with a diamond head drill bit.

"My _relationship_ with everyone is just _fine_," I reiterated and then grinned, baring my teeth at her like a feral dog on the street protecting a scrap stolen from a dumpster. I dropped my eyes back down into my tea as if I expected to find some mind-blowing revelation in the bottom of the mug. I couldn't trust myself to hold her gaze. Anytime I started thinking about Chris and his big blue eyes I ended up blushing like a virgin on prom night. Kess, Juice, hell even Lappy had enjoyed pointing that fact out to me.

"Are you still _enjoying_ your job?" `Enjoying', I had to think about the word for a moment, several definitions running through my brain until, finally, I nodded.

"I love it," I told her honestly, eventually looking up to meet her appraising and shrewd stare and immediately wondered if I've picked the wrong word as her eyes narrowed. "Y'know, the guys are fun and we all get along and I am really enjoying all the perks." Sitting back she tapped the outside of her mug with her fingernails and watched me do my best not to squirm.

"Everyone gets along?" she asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, _everyone_," I insisted, putting my tea down. My palms felt sweaty. "Even if he doesn't approve of what I do and even if he won't take advantage of all of the services I can offer, we _do_ get along." She pursed her lips in a thoughtful kind of way and I felt like she was waiting for me to break so I stared back at her, careful now, not to so much as blink.

"So if I asked…every one would be happy?" I took in a sharp breath and picked up my tea again.

"Yes," I replied, feeling almost a hundred per cent confident about my answer. "Except maybe the rookie," I amended with a grin partly because it was probably true and partly to allow my face some kind of expression other than deer caught in the headlights.

"Well…that's the thing about being a rookie, you have to wait your turn," she grinned at me in that kind of big sister way that I was more used to. Quietly I released a breath I hadn't realized that I'd been holding.

"Plus it's just so much fun to tease them. They go such divine shades of pink,"

With that I couldn't help but agree.

* * *

"Whazzup?" The expression on his face reminded me immediately of Joey on Friends. I waited, expecting him to say `how you doin'?' but he just gave me _the look_ instead.

"Mr. Price," I nodded and turned back to continue to tease Eddie. He hadn't got the special attention I'd promised him and he was feeling a little left out. I was currently preventing him from getting his jersey on because I was having too much fun playing with the laces on his hockey pants.

"So is it true what they say about her? Is she a complete wild child?" Eddie frowned and looked down at me and then over my shoulder at where Price had taken up residence. Almost all of the guys had changed already. Carey was still in his black jeans, matching muscle shirt and cowboy hat. I was guessing it was an outfit that worked with a certain percentage of the female public but to me it just looked like a costume; maybe a Chippendale's costume but still a costume.

"You'll never know," Eddie said quietly, his blue eyes steely cold. A shudder of pleasure ran up my spine as he laid a protective and yes, even possessive hand on the small of my back.

"Well now, that's not strictly true," Price replied, taking his hat off, laying it beside him on the bench and running a hand through his thick, dark hair. "Lappy, for one, tells me she's a screamer." The corner of Eddie's jaw twitched and his eyes narrowed. The fact that the Canucks only played the Habs once every other year was the only reason that Montreal's goalie didn't realize that he was about thirty seconds away from a body check that would have him waking up in about a week. I put my hand flat in the middle of his chest. Eddie looked down at it and then covered it with his other hand. I beamed up at him. Whatever anyone said now wouldn't matter. "Of course whenever Higgy gets a piece of her poon tang I'll get the lowdown on that too."

A low, menacing growl erupted from the usually quiet and gentle defenceman. I stared up at him waiting for his attention to return to me. He hesitated, glaring dangerously at the other man, then glanced down at me and his nostrils flared when I shook my head, warning him against whatever he had in mind.

"Please," he said in a voice that barely escaped his clenched teeth, "just one." A fight erupting in the room at the All Star game was definitely not something the league wanted, unless of course it was maybe between Malkin and Hartnell. I shook my head again. So many of the guys in the league hated my boys already, I didn't want them to have any other grounds. Not that I believed they really had a good reason to hate them _now_.

"Let it go," I whispered. I wanted to add that if he wanted to punch Chris in the face for me when we got home I wouldn't object but I wasn't about to air our dirty laundry in public. It was bad enough there was any kind of conjecture about us already.

"So what is the deal with you two anyway?" Price asked, ignoring the daggers Eddie's gaze was sending his direction. I glanced over my shoulder and watched the Habs' goalie pull his t-shirt off. He flexed his guns. Ha. Nothing of the display he was trying to make was much to write home about. All of the guys on my team looked better than that fully dressed. "You waitin' for him to beg or what?"

"Yeah that's it," I replied caustically. He smirked like he thought it was funny. "The fact that he's crying on your shoulder about it tells me that we're getting there," I added, making a note to myself to have a word with dear Higgy when we got home.

"I don't think Higgs has ever begged for it in his life," Carey smirked, unsnapping the top button on his jeans and shoving them down over his hips. I looked away. It was one thing seeing my boys get out of their gear. I felt strangely uncomfortable with a stranger getting naked near me. "In fact, I bet he's in Honolulu right now dipping his wick in some hula babe." I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes against the vision that came immediately to mind, Chris pouring himself over some tanned beach beauty.

"Good for him," I said hoarsely and then went up on tiptoe to press a kiss to Eddie's lips. "I'll see you after the skills. Go get `em Tiger."

I could feel more sets of eyes than just Eddie and Carey's on my back as I practically ran out of the room but I didn't turn around and blow a kiss or anything that might have suggested I was un phased. I was plenty phased and I needed to be somewhere that didn't smell like hockey gear and that didn't remind me of someone I was supposed to be getting out of my mind.


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a long, intense, but thoroughly enjoyable trip to Ottawa but now that we were back on the west coast, I was very ready to crawl into my bed and sleep for a long, _long_ time.

Except, apparently, the universe had other plans for my tired ass.

I dropped my bags as soon as I stepped inside the front door to the condo and reached out to flip on the lights but someone else beat me to it. A lamp switched on in the living room, just about giving me a coronary.

"Jesus Christ on a pogo stick!" I shouted, clutching a hand to my chest. Chris stared at me in the dim light but didn't move from where he was currently taking up real estate on my sectional. "What the fuck are you doing here sitting in the dark? No, wait, what the fuck are you doing here full fucking stop and the fuck did you get in?"

With his elbows propped on his knees, he shrugged. "I kinda dozed off. Didn't even realize how dark it had gotten."

That didn't explain how he'd gotten in and I'd already guessed at the why. Beneath my hand, my heart finally started to slow a bit once my brain had registered that I was not actually in danger of being killed by an intruder. Of course I didn't expect my pulse to stay relaxed for long since, really, it was impossible not to recognize Chris as a threat of _some _sort. Taking a deep breath, I leaned down and yanked off my ankle boots, kicking them toward the entry closet. "It's late. I'm tired, and you've probably just got off the plane from Hawaii so you should be too so whatever this…," I gestured vaguely toward him," is supposed to be, it should probably wait for another time or…or I'm probably going to say something I'll regret."

Chris didn't move but his eyes swept over me, from my lazy ponytail to the toes of my sunshine yellow socks peeking out from beneath the hems of my jeans. The constant hell of caring about him and the torment of being continually questioned about the nature of our relationship, never mind the fact that we weren't actually _having_ a relationship... the whole shebang was just too emotionally draining and I was already on the verge of cracking - I really didn't have it in me to go another ten rounds.

"Chris," I pleaded quietly, pressing my fingertips against my temples, "Please, I'm fucking begging here, just...not tonight, okay?" I could feel the sting of tears building in my eyes and knew I was seconds from an exhausted meltdown. I _really_ didn't want him there when it happened. "I'm sure you have a fabulous monologue prepared explaining all the ways I've taken whoring to a whole new level but I really just can't do this right now. Give me a few days and then I'll be better prepared to handle whatever you have to throw at me. But just... not right now."

It pissed me off to have to beg, to let him know that he really and truly had the upper hand here and that he could easily do significant damage with very little effort on his part in the shape I was currently in. I looked over at where he was still watching me like he was expecting me to sprout a disco ball and a brass pole and sighed. There really is nothing quite like having the man that holds your heart in the palm of his hands look at you like you're the whore of Babylon.

"Did you know…when you went to with them, did you know you were going to sleep with…someone _else_?" So he was going to ignore my plea. I don't know why I was disappointed but I had to fight to hold back a scream of sheer frustration as I dragged my ass to the wing back chair across from him and dropped myself into it.

"Do you ever get bored of judging people?" I asked, feeling tired and irritated as I stared him down. His blue eyes opened a little wider. So I'd surprised him with my answer. Well I guess tha was one point for me.

"How could you just…give yourself to a complete stranger?" he replied, ignoring my question. Smirking, I dramatically rolled my eyes.

"Actually it was a treat and kind of educational but then it's amazing how some things translate despite a language barrier. But I guess 'yes', 'harder', and 'don't stop' are pretty much universal." I countered, tilting my head to one side and waiting for his answer. It wasn't my imagination. He blanched and then clenched his teeth. I was too tired to be intimidated. I was too tired to even care how this went down. I wasn't the one who'd asked for this fight.

"Our guys…that's one thing but…I can't believe Hank pimped you out like that!" he growled. I dropped my head into my hands. He still didn't get it and I was tired of trying to explain it to him.

"You know what? Sex is fun, maybe you should try it some time. I mean not with me, obviously because I'm the worst person in the entire world according to you but…you know, maybe you wouldn't be so fucking uptight if you would just get your rocks off once in a fucking while." God it sounded so loud when I said it and then it got so quiet; the kind of quiet that was heavy and so, _so_ quiet.

"It's supposed to mean something," he hissed at me like I was the misbehaving child at church, like what he wanted to do was smack my impudent face. I stared back at him and for a single, shining moment I tried to ignore that little voice in the back of my head that was telling me to let him have it, and then I didn't.

"Did it mean something with that puck in Boston?" If I'd thought it was quiet before it got empty museum quiet then as he stared at me like I'd actually just stuck a knife in his gut. I felt like I had. I felt like I could feel his blood pouring over my hand.

Well good, I thought, staring back at him, he'd been hurting me enough.

"I came here to talk about us," he said quietly and then turned his face away so it fell back into the shadows.

"Us?" I snickered. It was just so absurd. "There is no us, you've made that abundantly clear."

"You won't do the one thing…," he began but I held up my hand. I couldn't listen to this argument any more.

That's when Kris Letang's words came back to me.

"I don't think I could be satisfied with just one man Chris. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit into the unicorns and rainbow world you live in but…I like sex, _a lot_ and I'm not going to apologize to you or anyone else for enjoying it. I wish you'd accept that they way you accept Kess for having crazy hair or…or Burr for telling lame jokes." I looked up at him, a kernel of hope deep in my gut making me expect to see the truth of what I'd just said dawning on his face but, predictably, he frowned and shook his head.

"That's not the same at all. It's not like having a big nose or something, you sleep around!" he snarled, exasperation clear in his tone. I shrugged.

"I do and I enjoy it and I'm done apologizing for that. I like having sex and I know, in here," I continued, holding my hand over my heart, "that if you and I could get beyond this bullshit that what we would have between us would be different and I could prove to you that I can have more than just sex but I'm not gonna beg you to sleep with me Chris. This is _your_ problem, it's _not_ mine. Now, I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed so either you come with me or you go home but either way, this conversation is over." I wearily pushed myself to my feet and stumbled as I got upright. I didn't see him move but Chris caught me as I swayed and I blinked into his furious gaze. "Jeezus Chris, whatryagonnado, hit me?" I asked, realizing in that moment that it would almost be a relief if he did. At least then, I told myself as I stared back into his eyes that always struck me as being the colour of deep ocean pools, I could get over him.

"Do you know how hard this is for me?" he hissed at me as his thick fingers dug into my upper arms. I smirked at him sleepily and shook my head.

"I guess kind of as hard as it is for me to have you look at me like I'm something you've just scraped off the bottom of your shoe." He blinked and then some of the rage leaked out of his eyes. "Kind of like knowing that you like me and hate me at the same time," I continued, feeling that now familiar ball of emotion rising up in my throat, threatening to choke me. Slowly I felt his fingers stop digging into my flesh and then, haltingly, he lifted one hand to cradle my cheek. I gritted my teeth. Part of me wanted to sob like a baby at the tenderness of his touch and the sudden change in his expression but the other part, the bigger part of my brain screamed at me not to believe it, that it would only last a minute and then he'd be back to calling me a slut and worse.

Except that he didn't. While the pad of his thumb gently stroked my cheek he cursed quietly.

"I don't _hate_ you," he whispered, as if he was also having trouble forcing his voice around his own ball of emotion. "I _want _to hate you," he added even more quietly as he reached up and tugged the elastic from my pony tail. I refused to groan out loud, even though that was my gut reaction. I forced myself to keep my eyes open, not close them and lean into his hand as he raked it gently through my hair.

"I'm too tired for games Chris," I muttered, holding onto my anger like a life raft. I stared at him, into those afternoon sun blue eyes and dared him to say one more thing about my being a whore and I was going to gladly slap his handsome face.

"Me too," he replied softly and then, before I could properly process what he was doing, he dropped his hand from hair to the small of my back, pulled me against him and kissed me, hard.

The angel on one shoulder broke out her pom-poms and danced a jig while the devil on my other shoulder stuck out her tongue and called bullshit on the whole proceedings. I fell somewhere in the middle, between wanting to dig my fingers into his coarse sandy blonde hair and wrap my legs around his waist and wanting to push him away and tell him to leave. My body had already surrendered but I still didn't trust him.

"Stop," I breathed, managing to push him away, just enough to get some air. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He smiled. My legs turned into limp spaghetti noodles as he stroked the back of my neck with his fingers. I bit my bottom lip hard enough that I tasted blood.

"So you're allowed to fuck all my teammates and even guys on other teams but I can't even _kiss_ you?" he asked a little breathlessly, grinning at me like I was the one that had done something funny. I frowned at him.

"I'm getting whiplash from your mood swings. You should see someone about that. I think you can get some medication," I pointed out as his gaze stayed locked on my mouth.

"Damn it woman, do you have to have a smart come back for everything?" he whispered, leaning in so that his lips were almost brushing my cheek and I could feel the moist warmth of his breath on my ear. "I want to stay and I want to erase every single memory you have of being with another man and I know I could but…I'm not there yet."

"Not…? What the fuck are you talking about?" I stuttered as he drew back, cradling my face this time in both of his big, rough, scarred hands.

"Do you have to argue about everything?" he asked with a quick grin before pressing his mouth softly over mine once more in a kiss that was chaste but still made my toes curl. "G'night baby," he added softly, holding my gaze for one more, long moment and then he turned and left, just like that. Not another word, leaving me staring at a closed door and wondering what the in the Sam hell had just happened.

* * *

"Oh good," Katie patted the spot next to her on the couch in the player's lounge. "I want to hear all the gossip from the all star game." I smiled, my thoughts immediately going back to that hotel room, the dark haired Frenchman and a bowl of freshly made whipped cream he'd ordered from room service.

"Well I can tell you this much, it was fun, I'd do it again," I added with a smirk and wink. Juice's wife groaned and looked envious.

"Spill it, who'd you pick?" Joann snorted, joining us on the couch and digging her elbow playfully into my side. I batted my eyelashes at her and shook my head.

"A Specialist doesn't kiss and tell, you know the rules," I insisted.

"Fuuuck that," Gina snorted, dropping her very expensive Coach bag between her feet as she joined us. "Spill bitch," she added playfully, "unless of course it was that douche Kane in which case I don't wanna hear it."

"It wasn't," I insisted, laughing as I recalled how at breakfast the next day he'd practically begged for a turn.

"Was it Jamie Benn 'cuz he's kinda cute," Johanna asked, blushing when everyone made kissing sounds at her.

"No, oh my god, you're worse than the boys," I laughed. "Okay, fine it was Kris Letang." The room fell silent in an instant and the expression on every single woman's face in the room made it clear that every last one of them had thought about being in my shoes and each one of them sighed wistfully.

"Oh please tell me he was as good as I think he is," Katie sighed.

"And then some," I admitted. They all heaved another sigh. I shook my head and started to giggle, and then stopped.

He was standing just inside the room, already in his hockey pants and socks but with that torn half shirt he wore under his jersey, his perfectly formed abs on display. Every pair of eyes turned towards him but his gaze was on me, and me alone he looked decidedly unhappy.

Oh hell.

He turned and stormed back through the door to the locker room, slamming the door so hard that it left a divot in the dry wall. I stared at that divot and inexplicably felt everything below my belly button clench with desire.

"Oooh someone's not happy you got to play with the Disney Prince." I turned and blinked at Gina. Jesus Christ on a bike, did _everyone_ know how Higgy felt but me?

"Okay, really, everyone keeps saying stuff like that but honestly…," I began to dispute it but Katie reached over and laid her hand over one of mine.

"I was in Hawaii with him. It was Penny this and Penny that and believe me, there was some very pretty girls in teenie weenie bikinis there and Chris didn't look at _any_ of them." I stared at her, my mouth open to argue but then I thought of the kiss and…I couldn't.

"Oh my god Lappy, Juice and Higgy in nothing but shorts?" Gina fanned herself and everyone laughed. Everyone but me.

* * *

I sat on the edge of my seat most nights, living and dying with each shift, feeling each hit, celebrating each goal like it was the last of the season. Against the Hawks though, it felt like I couldn't breathe. Actually it was like the entire city was sitting on the edge of their seats, holding their breaths and wishing violent and bloody thoughts towards each and every player in a Chicago jersey, especially Ratface Bolland.

Schneids was amazing, like he usually was and the home fans cheered boisterously for every save he made, taunting Toews and Kane every time he made a glove save look easy. It didn't take long for Kess to put us in the lead, a wrister from the half boards that had the entire arena on their feet and howling for blood. Ryan celebrated with a cocky grin that made me shake my head and laugh.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for the Hawks to even the score when Seabrook made a beautiful saucer pass and Mayers put it over Cory's shoulder. The crowd groaned and fell silent, sullenly watching the despised Hawks celebrate.

Then Coach AV put Hansen and Lappy out with Chris and I was forced to bite my nails to the quicks as they raced into the Hawks end and started throwing hits like Jehova Witnesses handout leaflets on a Saturday morning. I knew and most of the crowd seemed to sense that Chris wasn't exactly a hundred per cent yet and I winced every time he put a shoulder into a Hawks jersey. I waited for him to crumple. He didn't. The boys kept the Hawks pinned in their own end for the rest of the period but Crawford stood his ground and protected his crease and we went through the entire second period without either team gaining any ground.

I hadn't even returned to my seat with a slice of overpriced luke warm pizza when the hulking Swede Stalberg opened the third with a pretty back hand that squeaked past Schneids. The crowd grumbled making their discontent known as Toews and Kane lead Stalberg down the bench, hooting and hollering like they'd won the game.

AV put the energy line back out on the ice and as they lined up to take the face off against Sharp, Hossa and BMo, Chris stood at the top of the circle and feigned checking the blade of his stick. Except he wasn't looking at his stick at all; he was looking over it and over the Hawks bench and right at me.

If I hadn't already been confused I was downright baffled now. The expression in his eyes was dark and clearly unhappy and I felt it right down into the pit of my stomach. I was certain that look had nothing to do with the loathed Hawks. I was absolutely convinced it had to do with me.

"What the fuck?" I muttered and slid down in my seat, wishing for a hole to open up and swallow me whole. It was too intimate an exchange. It felt like the whole crowd had turned to look at me. I even glanced up at the score board to see if I was on the damned Kiss Cam or something.

The puck had barely hit the ice when Chris took a run directly at Hossa. The only way it could have been more of a suicide mission was if he'd taken a run at Keith, Seabrook or worse, that giant meathead Scott. Hossa barely flinched. Chris took the worst of the hit and ended up slumping to the ice.

I heard the squeak that came out of my mouth and immediately tried to stifle it with both of my hands. I'd seen all of our guys take and give hits and I'd felt everything between concern and outrage before but this was different. I felt…worried.

"Jesus Christ Pen, get your shit together," I muttered. The middle aged man sitting beside me with his wife glanced sideways at the crazy woman talking to herself. I smiled at him and shrugged. Well, what else could I do? I _was_ talking to myself.

"You know what you need to do," Gina said quietly without looking up from her iPhone. I blinked at her. I hadn't paid the least bit of attention to her since the game had begun.

"What's that?" I hissed back.

"Talk to him," she suggested quietly, pulling up the now infamous six pack shot on her phone and flashing it at me with a wicked smile. "Because neither of you can keep pretending you don't want to jump each other." I opened my mouth to protest, even to say that I'd rather jump her husband than Chris, but Cody lined up at the top of the circle and snapped one past Crawford and the entire arena got to their feet, me right along with them.

We were tied and there was still fifteen minutes left in the third.

* * *

As soon as Danny roofed one into the back of the net, sending Crawford's water bottle flying and everyone in the arena to their feet, ending overtime, I turned and headed down the corridor. I'd spent the balance of the third period trying to decipher Chris's actions. The guy ran hot and cold like a faucet. I didn't know which end was up and more than that, I didn't know what to feel when I was near him.

Being around him was like riding a rollercoaster in the dark. I didn't know when the twists and turns were coming and half the time I didn't know which side was up and which side was down.

My body wanted him in the worst way. He barely had to touch me and I was on fire but at the same time all he had to do was look at me and I wanted to hiss, spit and claw like a cat. He could make me so angry in one minute and turn me into melted butter the next.

It had to stop.

I had a job to do and he was a distraction but worse than that, he was constantly doing everything in his power to belittle me. I'd long since gotten past the stick and stones part of it, but he needed to stop talking to everyone else in the league about me and start talking _to me_.

He was outside the room, out of his skates and jersey but still in full body armor standing in the hallway surrounded by reporters and cameras. I looked at his bare feet on the concrete floor and bit my bottom lip. Skater's feet, like those of ballerinas, are a mess of bruises, bunions, twisted and broken toes and yet they are delicate, sensitive things and I couldn't help but stare and, god help me, want to touch them.

"Hey sexy, you waitin' for me?" I had stopped half way down the hall, out of range of the cameras and was leaning against the wall watching the scrum so intently I hadn't heard the door of the opposition room open. I turned to see Patrick Kane smirking at me in nothing but a towel. I rolled my eyes.

"You wish," I sighed and kept my eyes glued north of shoulders. It wasn't that he was bad to look at. It was just that I didn't want to encourage him.

"Aw c'mon, we let your guys win, the least you can do is give me a sympathy fuck," he grinned like he'd made a funny. I rolled my eyes.

"That is _so_ not in my contract," I chuckled. I'd figured out in Ottawa that Kane was pretty much harmless, mostly bark and literally no bite. I'd also been told that he was almost all show and no go in the sack, more impressed with himself than he'd ever be with the women he slept with.

"You're killing me," he exaggerated a stumble backwards, clutching his chest. I shook my head at him. He was an over grown teenage boy. Once I'd figured that out, his antics didn't bother me.

"If you don't go back to your own room, I'll kill you." I tensed and bristled at having him come to my rescue when I didn't need rescuing.

"Chrissss," I hissed, glaring a warning at him over my shoulder. He ignored it, his fierce gaze locked on mostly naked Kane who smirked back at him. I wanted to tell him that by reacting he would only be encouraging him but I pressed my lips shut, deciding to let him find out for himself.

"Did she tell you how I totally rocked her world after the skills?" Patrick asked, miming holding a woman's hips and fucking her from behind. I heard a feral growl start in Chris's throat behind me.

"In your dreams," I sighed and shook my head at Pat who grinned like a jack o lantern over my shoulder at Chris. I didn't need to turn to know that Higgy would be wearing an unhappy expression. I could feel the desire to rip Kane limb from limb coming off the Canuck's forward in waves. "It didn't happen Chris," I added more quietly.

"Oh wait, are you two really a thing?" Kane asked, stopping mid motion, his mischievous grin growing by degrees as he looked first at me and then over me at Chris. "Like a…," he mimed swatting a woman's ass and then fucking her, "thing?" Chris growled again. This was not going to end well. I turned and grabbed Chris's upper arms, pushing him with all my might. I couldn't budge him.

"He's baiting you, you fucking idiot," I hissed. Chris continued to send death rays with his eyes towards the Hawks' diminutive forward. "Jeeezus you don't even care," I moaned at him, putting both of my hands flat on Chris's chest and shoving him backwards with all my might. He barely rocked back on his heels. The shove didn't get his attention but he turned a quizzical stare down at me.

"What do you mean, don't care?" he asked, looking sincerely puzzled.

"Okay, _again_, you hate what I do so by extension you hate _me_," I began, already bored by having to say it out loud, again.

"I said I don't hate you," he replied quietly, still staring at me like I was saying and doing something that mystified him.

"Whatever. You don't approve or whatever. The point is, if you actually cared about me you wouldn't be running me down all the time and by the way, I'd sincerely appreciate it if you didn't talk about me behind my back. It's so immature and…."

I didn't get to finish my planned speech, the one I'd come storming down to the bowels of the arena to give. One minute I was about to lecture him and the next he had my head in his hands and his mouth was crushed against mine…again.

I was taken completely by surprise, again and just stood there like a statue, staring at him as he kissed me. Then, in the next minute, my hands were in his hair and I was kissing him back and trying to climb him like a jungle gym. I wanted to be pressed against him, all of him, and I wanted him to press me against the nearest flat surface but instead, he broke off the kiss and pushed me back away from him and held me there, helpless, at arms' length.

"Enough of this shit. We're going on a date, tomorrow night," he told me a little breathlessly and with this self satisfied smile on his face. "Wear something pretty," he added, curling his index finger beneath my chin and gazing down into my face like I was an amusing but disobedient child. I opened my mouth to tell him hell to the no, but what came out was:

"Okay."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

There was an extra bounce in my step when I arrived at practice with my venti mocha in one hand and a copy of the Province in the other. There was a piece about the Twins in it that I was looking forward to reading. I passed by the player's lounge, like I usually did at morning practice but just as I was about to call out a jovial greeting to one of the training staff a bottle of water whizzed by my face and collided with the wall. I stood blinking at it which was the only reason that the Blackberry that followed it didn't hit me in the face.

"Son of a fucking cunt!" I looked down at the pieces of black plastic littering the concrete floor and then up at the source, Ryan, who had murder in his eyes.

"Bad news?" I asked quietly.

"Something like that, fuck…sorry, I didn't hit you did I?" I shook my head and smiled at the apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry, _fuck_," he muttered again, roughly running his hand through his unruly hair. There were only two things I could think of that could put the usually affable Super Kess in this kind of a mood, being injured or Andrea.

"What did she do now?" I asked quietly, drawing him aside, taking one of his hands in both of mine digging my thumbs into the palm of his hand and attempting to massage out the tension I could feel there.

"Is it _that_ obvious?" he sighed and leaned his head against the cool concrete wall.

"Well you're not limping and I don't see any bandages so…yeah," I replied softly, hesitantly. His wife was still a touchy subject for me despite the fact that Ryan pretty much shared everything with me about their volatile relationship. I was still doing my best to keep some boundaries up between us, despite the fact that of all of the players, I probably had the closest relationship to Kess.

"She wants another kid," he began, his gaze riveted to the work I was doing on his hand. "She told me this morning that she's been flushing her pills and…I'm actually not sure that we're even going to stay together so...," he looked up at me and shrugged. I knew the rest. He didn't need to say it. Andrea had her tentacles into him and wasn't about to let go, despite her best efforts at chasing him away. It was a tug of war he was tired of being in, but she was his wife and the mother of his kid; his totally adorable kid who was the light of his life.

"Maybe you need some space," I said, thinking that maybe she needed to go spend some time with her parents, away from him and the team and, selfishly, me. Ryan's face lit up like a neon sign in Vegas.

"I could stay with you for a few days. That's brilliant!" he grinned wickedly and then, using his other arm to pull me into a one armed bear hug, almost pressed the air from my lungs.

"I…I didn't…," I stuttered, trying to think of how I could get myself out of this. I'd just agreed to a date with Chris and now we'd have a chaperone. It wasn't exactly the most romantic idea ever. "That might be kind of…awkward," I suggested quietly.

"Hey, it's not like I haven't seen and heard it all, hello, I've been on the road with these guys for like…_ever_," he pointed out, leaning in and pressing his lips to my cheek. "God, I do need some space. This is going to be great!" I watched him walk away feeling a bit like I've been run over by a speeding train.

"It's a good thing I didn't plan on you making me dinner," a voice whispered soft and low in my ear. I turned and I felt a hand at the small of my back. I closed my eyes and reveledl in the warmth of his touch.

"It is, because I would have said no," I smiled to myself as he whistled.

"Hey, I had dinner with you once," he reminded me. I wrinkled my nose as I turned around to look up into eyes the colour of a midsummer morning.

"We picked up Chinese, and I don't remember you eating anything so that doesn't count," I pointed out to him. I put my hands behind my back. The urge to run my fingers over the tattoo on his chest and down over his abs was too much. Not to mention I wanted to lick the drop of sweat barely clinging to his chin.

"Well we'll have to remedy that," he said softly and reached up to brush my hair back over my shoulder. His gaze lingered on my neck and my pulse began to race at the thought of his lips there, his teeth grazing over my skin.

"I thought that was the plan," I murmured, wondering if my panties were literally going to combust if he got any closer to me.

"Part of it anyway," he grinned, running his finger down my jaw line and tipping my face up towards his. I held my breath, waiting for him to kiss me right there in the hallway outside the players' lounge but he didn't. "See you later," he said anyway, a secretive sort of smile playing at the corners of his lips.

I watched him walk, or more correctly, strut down the hall and had to lean on the wall for support and all I could think is, damn that man is sexy.

* * *

I was glad that I'd done a little shopping while we'd been in Ottawa so I had something to wear he hadn't seen before. The only problem was, I couldn't choose.

"The red or the black?" I asked, holding up first the little red asymmetrical one shoulder dress and then holding the more understated black chiffon tea length halter dress. Kess tilted his head first to one side and then the other.

"I'd say the red one, which probably means you should wear the black one," he replied finally from his vantage point lounging in the middle of my bed. I hung the red one back up in the closest and held the black one up again.

"Which shoes do you think would go?" I asked, happy enough with the dress decision to wonder if I should wear my hair up or down and what shoes would look best.

"I suppose if I say your thigh highs you'll be pissed?" I sent a dark look Ryan's way and he smirked. "Leopard print wedges?" he suggested with a sly smirk. I was about to dismiss the idea entirely but then I thought about a matching bracelet I had. If I added those pieces would it say that I wasn't taking this date seriously enough? Or would it say that I was willing to have fun, that I wasn't pushing for too much all at once?

"Leopard print, I like it," I said quietly, carefully hanging the dress up and reaching for my jewelry box. I touch out the bracelet and found a pair of faux coffee diamond hoops to go with it.

As I started to shimmy out of my jeans I caught Kess watching me out of the corner of my eye and he looked…well, he looked abandoned, like a little kid you find in the middle of the mall who's wandered away from his mom.

"Ry?" I asked quietly, stepping out of my jeans and crawling onto the bed, stretching myself out beside him. He shook his head, at first, and picked at the comforter. "Ry Ry," I teased, digging my fingernails into his arm. He wrinkled his nose. I don't know why that bitch at the All Stars called him that. He hates it.

"I know we said…_I_ said we'd help you and…y'know, _him_ get together," he made a face and stopped, rolled over onto his back and tucked me in against his side. I put my hand flat in the middle of his chest and he put his bigger hand over mine, right over his heart. "Just…promise me that you won't forget the rest of us when you're all…lovie dovie with Mr. New York firefighter calendar boy." I smiled up at him. It was so rare that Kess let anyone see him vulnerable, let alone me that I felt my heart get all soft and gooey like a marshmallow held over a flame to see how much he meant what he'd just said.

"I've told him I won't stop doing this," I assured him, snuggling as close as I could. He scissored his legs over mine and wrapped his big arms around me until I was literally his prisoner.

"Promise that I won't have to like…wait my turn," he grunted, his hands moving down to cup my ass through my lacey panties.

"Only sometimes," I teased just so that he'd spank me. He couldn't get a good swing from this angle but he let me know he meant it. I giggled and squirmed to get free, which was futile.

"I wanna be happy for you guys but I still want to fuck you through the mattress," he promised. My body tingled and I rubbed my thighs together and whimpered.

"Mmm you know I want you to," I sighed as he rolled me onto my back and pressed me down beneath him. Right at that moment, with his biceps straining as he held me down and the proof of his desire rubbing against my stomach, I wanted nothing more than to have him show me that he could still make me want him as much as I wanted anyone else but it didn't seem right. Not before the date anyway.

"Maybe after?" I squeaked, sticking out my bottom lip.

"Fine!" he sighed and rolled off of me. "But you're not having sex with him tonight," he added, pointing at me. "If you're having a real relationship then don't go giving the milk out for free because you know what they say about free milk?"

"Oh my god _mom_, okay, I'll make sure he puts a fucking deposit on the cow first, sheesh!"

"Quick! How do I look?" It felt like prom night all over again and the moment that Kess reached over to turn down the sound on the TV and turn around to look at me felt like having my dad in the room knowing his little princess was about to have the best night of her life.

"You look…amazing," Ryan said slowly, the expression in his eyes soft as a smile slowly pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Too good for him though, so let's pick something else out," he added his approving smile changing into a playful smirk.

"Too late," I giggled as a heavy set of knuckles rapped on the door a second time. Kess grumbled dramatically and followed me to the door. My heart was literally racing as I reached out to put my hand on the door knob.

"Here, let me," Kess said softly, putting his hand over top of mine. Gratefully I stepped back and let him open the door.

* * *

A man who looks good in a suit is always especially handsome but not all hockey players can pull off a suit successfully even if the suit is an expensive one. If he doesn't get it tailored to sit just so across his mile wide shoulders and if they don't take out some of the padding he will only look like a football player. If they don't taper the jacket to emphasize his narrow waist he will look like he's pulled down his mother's curtains and wrapped them around himself. Worse than that, if they don't make his pants specifically for him, they will look like they're bursting at the seams.

Chris looked like he'd stepped out of the pages of GQ or right off a billboard for Yves St. Laurent in a twilight blue suit with a soft looking grey t-shirt underneath it and he had just the right amount of five o'clock shadow that I knew it would be rough under my fingertips. I felt like I was about to melt into a puddle of my own drool.

"Wow," he said softly, his gaze slowly travelling up from my shoes, pausing for a long moment at my cleavage before finally making its way up to my face. "You look beautiful Pen."

"Yes she does and just to be clear, she does turn into a pumpkin at midnight, so have her back on time." Chris blinked at Kess and I could tell he wasn't sure if the Assistant Captain was kidding or not. He glanced to me and must have seen something in my face that told him clearly that he wasn't.

"Okay, well then…let's get going," he said softly, holding his hand out towards me. I stared at his hand, marveling at how thick his fingers were. A shudder ran straight down my spine and made the walls of my pussy clench.

"You upset her, I'll break every single one of your fingers," Kess hissed at him. Chris's eyes got a little wide.

"Heard and understood," he nodded as I put my hand in his. I watched his fingers close around my hand and my knees nearly gave.

"So…where are we going?" I asked as I heard the door to my condo close behind me.

"How about you let me worry about that," he said softly, stopping and turning me towards him, his free hand lifting to gently caress my cheek. "You look…you take my breath away," he said softly and then leaned in and brushed his lips over mine. If he did that again I was going to have to go back inside and change my panties.

"Where are we going?" I asked for the second or maybe it was the third time. Chris looked across the interior of the sleek, low sports car and smiled.

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" he chided me and then let his gaze slide down over my cleavage and down to where my hands where folded in my lap. I followed his gaze down and realized that somehow I'd gotten my hands all twisted up in the fabric, worrying at it. "I won't bite…_much_," he promised, reaching for one of my hands. I gave it to him and watched his fingers thread through mine. We'd already headed past Howe and Dunsmuir, across Georgia and away from most of the restaurants I knew the guys liked to frequent. "So impatient," he teased, lifting the back of my hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to each of my knuckles before giving me my hand back and putting the car in gear.

The car leapt away from the red light and growled like a hungry wolf as it dove towards the exit that would take us into the Park. Ah, the Teahouse I thought and sat back with a satisfied smile but he drove past that too and, eventually, headed for the bridge.

"No, seriously, where are we going?" I asked again. Chris laughed and shook his head. He really wasn't going to tell me.

"Why don't you put some music on? Maybe that will distract you," he suggested. I looked for a radio but there were only knobs for climate control. "Here," he reached for my hand again and put it down on a knob on the centre consul. Pressing it down brought up a menu where I could choose between radio stations, multiple cd's or an iPod. Chris's iPod.

I scanned the available playlists. Workout, pre-game, post game win, post game loss, on the road, party mix and last but not least there was a playlist entitled romance. Grinning I chose that playlist and hit shuffle.

"Make You Feel My Love" by Adele filled the car and I sat back and watched him, waiting for him to react. A smile played at the corners of his lips but it was the look in his eyes when he turned them towards me that made my breath catch at the back of my throat.

"Good choice," he said quietly, his gaze lingering on my mouth before he turned his attention back to the road. I bit back a whimper and decided that it was safer and the likelihood of making it through dinner without jumping him increased if I did the same.

When he aimed the car's nose up the hill towards Cypress Bowl though, I had to ask, again.

"You know this isn't Grouse right? There's no restaurant up Cypress," I told him. That toothy, boyish grin of Higgy's appeared, the one that made the corners of his blue eyes crinkle.

"I know what I'm doing," he told me quietly, "or don't you trust me?" I stared at him, at his wide sensuous mouth and his summer sky blue eyes and I didn't know how to answer that question. I wanted him. I wanted to kiss every inch of his skin and have him ravage me, but trust…no, I wasn't quite there yet. "That's okay," he said before I could say it out loud, returning his now more serious gaze to the road, "you'll see soon enough."

The car leaned into the next switchback and then rounded the corner past the first parking lot and edged up towards the peak. I frowned. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it would be soon and this, for kids who lived on the North Shore was a major make out point. The promise Kess had made me make him replayed in my head.

"Chris…," I began and winced at the whine in my voice.

"Jesus, relax Pen," he chuckled. Reaching back into the worthless back seat he tugged on a blanket I hadn't noticed. Beneath it was an old fashioned picnic basket. I stared at the basket and then at him and couldn't help grinning.

"A picnic? A real, honest to god picnic?" I asked. He nodded and tilted his head to one side.

"Is that alright with you?" I nodded, grinning and he grinned right back at me. "Good," he added, the expression in his eyes softening again. "I want to impress you and I know some of the other guys have already taken you to all the best spots in town so…I improvised."

"I like the way you improvise," I said a little breathlessly.

"Good," he repeated and pulled the car into the observation point and parked right in the middle of what I realized was a completely vacant parking lot. It was the beginning of February and it was cold but still.

"How'd you do this?" I asked, craning to look behind us.

"Oh, I have my ways," he smiled as he pulled the key from the ignition and turned towards me. "There are more benefits to being a Canuck than just having the sexiest Specialist in the league…although that's still probably the best one." He reached to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and I leaned into his hand. I wanted to kiss him, with every bone in my body I wanted to climb across the centre consul and into his lap but there was something I needed to know first.

"What's changed? What made you change your mind?" I asked, that ball of emotion growing in my throat again, making it hard to ask the question. One corner of his full mouth turned up as the pad of his thumb stroked my cheekbone.

"A man can only fight wanting a woman as beautiful and as sexy as you for so long," he whispered, his gaze holding mine like he was daring me not to believe him. "That, and knowing that sleazebag Price would be hitting on you for three days running…well, let's just say that I decided I was pretty stupid if he got to have you before I did." It was good, no doubt about it, but the devil on my shoulder leaned in and reminded me that it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement of my position with the team or a complete reversal of his previous position.

"I'm not quitting," I said quietly and his smile got a little sad as he nodded.

"I know," he replied, the pad of his thumb stopped at the corner of my mouth, "but I don't want to lose you and I _was_ losing you so…so if I only get part of you…I'll try if you will." And there it was. My heart literally stopped and tears filled my eyes. I nodded, unable to say anything without sobbing like a big baby. "Wanna dance?" he asked. I frowned at him. He tilted his head to the side and then reached over and turned up the volume. The Pogues "I'll Love You 'Til the End" was playing.

"Yeah," I whispered and he grinned, brushed his lips over mine and then was gone, only to reappear to pull open the passenger side door.

It was gray and drizzling but when he took me in his arms and we swayed to that song…I don't think I've ever been happier in my entire life.

* * *

It had begun to rain a little harder when Chris pulled the car up in front of my building. Neither of us had said anything in a while. I was certain both of us were thinking the same thing. Neither of us wanted the night to end and both of us knew who was waiting for me at home.

"I must be insane," Chris sighed at long last, his hands still gripping the steering wheel and his eyes, looking grey in the dark, stared straight ahead. "What guy in their right mind brings their date home for another guy to fuck?" I was half relieved he'd said it and half angry that he'd brought it up.

"I don't have feeling for him, you know that right?" I asked slowly, my hands still folded on my lap even though I wanted to run them through his hair and down over the soft grey cotton of his shirt. He looked over at me and I could tell that he was struggling with this. I was too, but I had made a promise.

"Yeah," he breathed and as I watched, he blew a breath out and then did his best to smile and not look worried but I could see it in his eyes. He didn't like this.

Reaching up, I ran my fingertips over the stubble of his jaw and as my thumb traced along his bottom lip he sucked my thumb into his mouth. I watched it disappear and bit down on my own bottom lip. His gaze smoldered as it held mine and that was it, my panties disintegrated.

"I want you," I whispered and he smiled around my thumb.

"I waw wu woo," he replied, his voice muffled by my thumb. I giggled and he bit down gently and then let it go. "C'mere," he whispered and put the car in park. It wasn't easy, but as he leaned the driver's seat back, I climbed over the gear shift and settled myself astride his lap. "Jesus fuck woman you're going to be the fucking death of me," he whispered, reaching up to dig his fingers into my hair.

"But what a way to go," I whispered back and then lowered my lips over his. His lips moved gently against mine and then his tongue swept over my lips and I gladly allowed him entrance. My tongue wrapped around his and I felt more than heard him groan, a sort of rumbling in his chest that vibrated right down between my thighs.

"Oh fuck baby," he whispered as he drew his lips from mine and moved them along my jaw and then down my neck. I arched neck and as if he could read my mind he traced the line of my pulse right down to my collarbone and up again, tugging at my earring with his teeth before eagerly demanding the press my mouth again over his own.

It was my turn to moan as his hands slid down my back and got a good grip on my ass, pulling me down hard onto him as he ground up against me. He was definitely not trying to hide how much he wanted me and I wondered if I could really hold out like I'd promised Ryan I would when all I wanted right at this second was for Chris to rip my panties off and take me right there in the front seat of his car.

I felt like I was sixteen again; urgently dry humping the wide receiver in the back seat of his mom's Volvo. It was kind of exciting and naughty but unlike then, I knew now that I would, if he asked, gladly go all the way. It was a good thing that Chris was determined to be a gentleman.

"You'd better go in," he whispered in my ear when I pushed the hem of his shirt so I could get at the buckle on his pants. I groaned out loud, pressed my forehead to his and sulked. "Special, remember?" he chuckled breathlessly, reaching up to push my hair back from my cheek. I stuck my bottom lip out even further. "I want to bite that," he grinned up at me, gnashing his teeth playfully.

"Ryan can sleep on the couch," I offered. Chris shook his head.

"That's not special," he repeated and then offered his lips for a long, sweet kiss that made all the muscles south of my belly button clench. "Soon baby," he whispered against my lips. I smiled at him and thought it would never be soon enough. "But you really should go inside now or I'll lose my gentleman card." I wanted to ask him to chuck his gentleman card but bit my lip and nodded. He reached down and pushed the door open. I slid off his lap and out into the cold drizzle.

"Thanks for an amazing night," I told him sincerely. He smiled up at me, that Higgy smile that made all the women in the arena press their thighs together and moan out loud.

"No, thank you," he insisted. With a sigh I turned to head for the door. "Babe, do me a favor?" I turned with my hand in my purse digging for my keys.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"When you fuck him…just…remember that, okay?" I smiled, knowing I would and blew him a kiss. He feigned catching it, opening the front of his pants and dropping it down. Giggling, I ran into the building just as it started to pour.

* * *

"Fuckin' about fuckin' time." I wasn't even in the door when Ryan pounced on me like a starving man on a piece of bread. He shoved the door the rest of the way closed with one hand and with the other he spun me and pressed me back against the now closed door. "Did he make you hot?" he whispered, his voice deep with barely checked desire. I nodded. I knew I still had this silly schoolgirl grin on my face but it was disappearing quickly as Ryan grabbed hold of the skirt of the dress and began to bunch it up and push it northwards. "Did you want to fuck him?" he asked, burying his face in the curve of my neck.

I closed my eyes. Chris's mouth had just been there and I waited to feel …what; negative, indifferent, maybe even disinterested? What I felt instead, as Ryan dragged his teeth up my neck and bit down on the tip of my ear just enough for me to drag a ragged breath in between my teeth, was a burning desire to be fucked, right there, right then, up against the door. Not make love, which I now knew I wanted to do with Chris. No, right that minute I definitely did not want sweetness and flowers and Barry Manilow. I wanted to be fucked, hard and fast to quench the desire that was now pooled, warm and wet between my thighs. I wanted carnal. I wanted mind blowing, scratching, biting, hair pulling sex to erase the unquenched weak kneed state he'd left me in.

"Fuck me," I begged and Ryan growled in response, one hand pulling my hair so he could feast on my mouth, the other shoving my panties down so he could fuck me. I felt his hand there, his fingers questing between my folds to see if I was ready. I groaned my impatience and pressed down on his hand, practically forcing him to shove his fingers up inside me. It wasn't enough but it was something. It was sensation in the area that felt neglected, deprived. I moaned like a cheap whore into Ryan's mouth and he growled like a junk yard dog.

Letting go of my hair he easily lifted me off of my feet and helped me wrap my legs around his waist. He shoved himself inside of me all in one thrust and I cried out for him, for the sensation of being filled, of having what I wanted.

"Did you want his cock in your pussy?" Ryan growled against my neck. I whimpered. I still did but this was good, _soooo_ good. "God you're fucking wet. Does he know how wet he made you?" I shook my head, unable to form words as Ryan used his upper body strength to lift me and then bring me down hard on the full length of his cock.

"Harder," I moaned. Ryan grimaced up at me.

"You want me to fuck your hot little box harder baby?" he asked. I nodded emphatically, biting down on my bottom lip to stifle a whimper. I wanted it harder and faster and now.

"Please," I whimpered, "please Ryan."

With a growl that was part pleasure and part frustration Ryan lifted me off of him and onto my feet, spinning me so that I faced away from him. With one tug he pulled the zipper down on my dress and then it fell in a pool of black chiffon around my feet leaving me in nothing but my heels.

"Fuck I love your ass," Ryan groaned in my ear and then laid a hearty smack across my bare buttocks. I yelped, but not in pain. It stung, but it felt good too. "Go put your hands on the window and spread your feet," he ordered. I did as I was told without a single syllable of argument. I walked across the living room, spread my hands and fingers out on the cool glass of the patio doors that overlooked the inlet and slid my feet apart. "Mmm, I love your tight little ass," he repeated, swatting it again. I closed my eyes and moaned. "I love your wet little beaver more," he added, sliding his fingers down into my cleft and sliding them up inside of me. With his other hand he reached around and cupped one breast, running his thumb over the hard, almost painfully hard nipple. "Do you think he's still down there? Maybe he can watch me fuck your tight little cunt?" I whimpered and shook my head. I hoped not. God I was such a happy whore.

"Fuck Ryan, shut the fuck up," I hissed at him. Normally I kinda liked his dirty talk but right now I didn't have the patience for it. "Fuck me already," I ordered and had my ass slapped for the trouble. I felt him gather a handful of my hair and hissed at him when he pulled my head back.

"Oh I'll fuck you and you're gonna scream my name, do you hear me?" he growled back at me. I smiled at him and licked my lips.

"We'll see," I replied mischievously.

"Oh we will," he promised and then, with one hand on my hip and one on my shoulder he shoved his cock up inside me until I felt like it was going to come out of my throat. I gasped. "Do you like my cock inside of you?" he asked, holding absolutely still.

"Uh huh," I replied, pressing my forehead against the cool glass.

"Like this?" he whispered, and did it again, filling me completely, once, twice, three more times.

"Uhhhhh yesssss," I hissed.

"Lean forward, hands on the window," he ordered. I bent over, my ass in the air, as he positioned himself behind me. "I am going to fuck you hard Pen," he promised, running the palms of his hands over my ass before bringing one hand up and then down with a hard, open handed slap that made my entire body tingle and the walls of my pussy clamp down hard enough on his dick that he moaned. "Oh yeah baby like that," he moaned. He slapped my ass again and I felt it, that clenching low in my gut, that sort of fluttering in my stomach. I was close.

"Fuuuuuck me," I begged pushing my hips back against him. He moaned but did as I asked. With his hands on my waist he brought his hips back so that the tip of his cock was barely in me and then he thrust them forward until he filled me entirely. I gasped, tipping my head back. "Oh yeah Ry, like that," I moaned as he did it again, and again, faster and faster until I could barely stand, my legs liquefying beneath me as the meaty sound of our bodies meeting mixed with my cries and his groans. "Harder," I panted, getting those stars in front of my eyes. I was right there, so close.

"Yeah, you like that baby? You like me fucking you like that?" he asked, ramming into me, filling me completely. I moaned out loud. I couldn't answer any more. It was now beyond my ability to speak. "You're so close baby. Give it to me, baby, cum all over my cock," he panted, not missing a thrust, not slowing down as he reached around me and pressed two fingers over my clit. I tilted my head back and came, screaming his name to the entire city.

* * *

Despite the workout Kes had put me through and the drain of the excitement of day leading up to The Date, I had a bitch of a time getting to sleep. My mind was calm but for some reason I just couldn't seem to drift off.

Ryan had eventually settled long enough to fall into the sleep of the dead and I was relieved to see him at ease for the first time in too damned long. Still, I was careful not to disturb him as I slipped out of bed and padded barefoot downstairs to the kitchen, hoping a cup of tea would lull in the direction of dreamland.

Sitting at the island, I scrolled through my phone, reading the texts I had missed throughout evening and waited for my tea to steep.

**CaptainHank**: _Dice & Ice on Thursday. Up 4 it?_

Hm. That wasn't a typical Specialist's event so I'd have to give it some thought. It warmed my insides to be included though.

**HammerTime02**: _Sarah wants 2 talk 2 u about something. I'm man enuf 2 admit I'm scared & turned on. Call me._

**Sarah H. 2+**: _Hi Penny, hoping you have a moment to chat soon. We'd love to have you over for dinner soon if you're available. Let me know. _J

That was something I had to respond to pronto. The woman made the best pot roast I'd ever had. Dinner? Hell yes.

**PattyCakeKaner88**: _ur fukin hottt. _

Charming. I really should have been more careful with passing out my digits in Ottawa. So far I'd had several random, though often sweet, mostly hilarious, propositions in the form of casual texts from players I hadn't even _spoken_ to.

I replied to that one regardless of the late hour, hoping to fuck with him a little.

**RK17**: _where the fuck is ur remote control? _

**Gina L. 1+**: _Is Roberto with you?_

**RK17**: _nvmnd, found it. _

**Juice**: _Katie and the kids are abandoning me this weekend. I'm heartbroken. Wanna help me feel better?_

**Gina L. 1+**: _He better be with you, Penny. Swear to God, I'll slap him with his own dick if he's not._

Uh oh. That wasn't sounding too good.

**CaptainHank**: _Sorry, I forgot you're having DATE NIGHT tonight! Have fun! Talk to you tomorrow._

**Andrea K. 17+**: _you're a whore_

Aaaaand… delete.

**Katie B. 3+**: _Hey girl! Heads up, going out of town after Dice & Ice – you're coming right? – and the big baby will be lonely. Can you entertain him for me? Puh-leeeze? _

**Katie B 3+**: _Btw, Gina's on the warpath. Lou's MIA and methinks in big BIG trouble_.

Yeah, there was a story there for sure. I'd have to corner Lou ASAP and get the details before I talked to Gina.

**Tanger58**: _Skating with a hard on sucks. That's what I get for thinking about you on the ice. Give me a call one of these days, eh?_

My fingers nearly started to dial on their own.

**RK17**: _I'm boooored. Dammit, why did he have 2 pick 2NITE 2 date u?_ _FUCK!_

Yeah, well, I'd made it up to him already. Several times actually.

**Higgy20**: _I just dropped u off at ur place. Can't stop thinking about u. Wish u were with me tonight._

Oh God. My lips stretched into the same ridiculous grin I knew I'd been wearing when I got home earlier and I instantly wanted to send him a message back but the clock on the stove advised me that waking him up at 3:30 was probably not the wisest decision.

As I'd conjured him with thoughts alone, Chris' face was suddenly staring back at me from the phone in my hand as his photo appeared on the screen indicating an incoming call.

It nearly went to voicemail by the time I'd gathered my wits enough to answer the bloody thing. "Hello?"

"Hey… um… you're not – did I wake you?"

I shook my head even though he couldn't see me and stuttered out a quick, "N-no. No! I was, um, I'm awake."

On the other end he seemed to hesitate a little. "Is this a bad time then? Are you… busy?"

I guess it was a legitimate concern since he knew I had company for the night but part of me wanted to laugh. "Do you think I'd answer the phone if I was… busy?"

"No," he laughed lightly and I could imagine the sheepish grin on his face. "I guess not. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I said, fingering the rim of my cup. "Just, I don't know. I can't sleep."

"Neither can I," he said softly. "Too much on my mind, I guess."

Shifting on the stool, I tucked one leg under myself and settled in, lifting my cup to sip delicately. "Anything you care to share? I'm a pretty wicked listener if I do say so myself."

"Hmm, you really want to hear me talk about the fact that I practically wore a path in the floor trying _not_ to imagine all the ways one of my closest friends was pounding you through the mattress, Penny?

The mug in my hand bobbled and scalding hot liquid sloshed onto the countertop in front of me. "Um… what?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my neighbours downstairs began cursing me to hell right about the time I decided that I could distract myself by moving all of my furniture. That worked until I began picturing you on your knees, letting him fuck your mouth while he watched your reflection in the window. I switched to jumping rope then." Chris chuckled low, the sound rumbling out of him and through the connection as clear as if he'd been sitting beside me. "Then all I could think of was Kes using a rope to bind your hands to the headboard and riding your ass from behind, with your legs pressed together screaming into the pillow. It was touch and go for a while there. I wanted to use the rope to hang myself when I realized I didn't know whose name you would be screaming."

This time I nearly dropped the phone. "… I…"

"It fucking _killed_ me to send you back to him, Pen," he whispered hoarsely.

I closed my eyes and absorbed the anguish in his voice, letting it register deep inside. This wasn't going to be easy. I'd sworn that I wasn't going to give up my work, that I wasn't going to bend to his will, to give in to his censure, but the ache driving his admission had me giving it serious consideration for a moment. "Chris…"

The silence that stretched between us was as charged as any conversation or argument we'd ever had. Despite the heartache he'd put me through and all of the horrible thoughts I'd wished upon him during that time, I didn't want him hurting. And as much as I wanted to be with him, I couldn't put him through this if it was going to wreck him like this. Was it really worth it?

"I think it is," he said quietly, making me realize I'd been thinking out loud. "And I didn't… I didn't call to tell you this to make you feel bad, I just… we promised to be honest with each other right?"

"Right," I said softly, remembering the way he'd smiled when I extended my pinky as we swore to be truthful and up front with our feelings from now on. He'd accepted the challenge and sealed it with a sweet, simple kiss that had nearly brought tears to my eyes.

"Well, this is me being honest. Tonight, being without you, knowing you were with someone else was absolute fucking hell… but… I meant what I said, Penny. I'd rather have you this way than not have you at all. It _is_ worth it. _You're_ worth it. To me."

Ah hell, that definitely brought out the waterworks. I sat there, eyes swimming, and wondered if I could wish hard enough to make him appear out of thin air to hold me right then. So far, my wish to reality ratio was pretty impressive.

"Anyway," he exhaled hard and his tone seemed lighter, as if he'd released a weight with his admission, "I just wanted to share that with you. I figured if I could make it through tonight without losing my mind or hunting down every man who ever touched you to carve them up with my skate blades, then we've got a good chance here. I wanted to let you know that regardless of what you did with him, what he did to you, whatever – I want you just as much as I did before, nothing has changed. Okay?"

Nodding like an idiot, I felt my lips start to curl again. "Okay."

"Okay," he laughed. "Think you can get to sleep now?"

"Yeah," I was more than a little surprised to register how suddenly tired I was. "Chris… I… I wish you were here."

He groaned on the other end of the phone and I felt it to my toes. "Baby, you have no idea how bad I wish the same."

"Maybe…" I thought about Kess fast asleep upstairs and bit my lip, wondering if I could make the trip to Chris' and back before he woke up. I didn't want him to wake up alone, though. Ryan had been going through hell of his own and deserved the attention I had promised him.

"How's he doing?"

"Rough," I said, knowing that Chris was genuinely concerned about his friend. "I thought it was me, y'know? That she was just angry about the fact that he cares about me and, um, visits and stuff."

"No," he said firmly. "No matter what I may have insinuated before, this thing between them was going on before you got here, babe. She's a piece of work. I know he's not exactly a ray of sunshine to live with but everyone knows this shit with Andrea is ripping him up inside. It's good that he…" his cut himself off abruptly and then swore before laughing lightly again. He cleared his throat. "It's good that he has you, Penny. And he needs you. I guess they all do in different ways, eh?"

I couldn't believe my ears. I actually wondered for a moment if I hadn't actually fallen asleep and was dreaming the whole conversation. This was surreal. "I don't know what to say right now."

"Say goodnight," he whispered. "Go be there for him but be sure to get some sleep. I'm going to try and knock myself unconscious and forget that I just sent you back into his arms."

I smiled at that and slid off of the stool, leaving the mess of spilled tea behind to deal with in the morning. "You're a good man Charlie Brown."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll see you at practice?"

"Uh huh," I switched off the light and started up the stairs. "Want to grab lunch or something? If you're not busy, I mean? We don't have to."

"Lunch sounds good."

"Okay," I felt like I was back in high school, giddy over the idea of sitting at the quarterback's table in the cafeteria. "I'll see you there."

"Okay," he yawned. "Good night, Baby."

"Night, Christopher."

"Oh! One more thing," he said slyly.

"Yesssss?"

"When you finally do close your eyes, be sure to dream of _me_."

As if I could do anything else.


	14. Chapter 14

_My apologies for not posting in...well...forever but I have actually had to really work my ass off lately as I was the only bread winner for a couple of months and so there just wasn't time for...well, anything else but work so I will now try and make up for that.**  
**_

**Chapter 14**

"A movie? Like...dinner and a movie?" Lappy stretched out on the bed next to me and yawned.

"Yeah like a date, a _normal_ date," I smiled as he pulled me into the warmth of the circle of his arms and laid my head on his chest. I was suddenly struck by the thought that this should probably feel weird talking about Chris after his road roomie had just fucked me into the mattress. Strangely it didn't.

"Nothing else?" he asked, running his meaty fingers down my back.

"Well I wouldn't say _nothing else_," I giggled, glad I wasn't looking up into Max's face as I felt my own start to heat up. The fact of the matter was Chris and I had been making out like horny teenagers in his car, every elevator in the arena and had once even made it as far as the couch in my condo but that was as far as he would let it go...for now.

"Chris and Penny sitting in a tree...," Max began and dug his fingers into my ribs, making me squeal and try to wriggle free except that the sheets were wrapped around my legs I couldn't get away. "You _luuuuv _him," he teased, pressing the full length of his body against the back of mine. Even if I couldn't say it out loud, I couldn't argue with him. Everyone probably thought it was true. Our inability to keep our hands off each other in a totally teenage crush kind of way was still new and shiny and, as far as I was aware, hadn't reached the point of pissing the other guys off...yet. "So… he really doesn't mind when I do this?" Max asked, brushing my hair away from the nape of my neck and sinking his teeth in until I gasped.

"Mmmm noo," I moaned. To be fair I'd offered to put up some boundaries, some limitations, set certain `activities' aside just for Chris alone but he'd surprised me by saying no. "He's being... I don't know...stoic is the best way I can describe it," I explained. Max chuckled and pressed a softer kiss to the spot between my shoulder blades.

"Grumpy is more like it." I could hear the mischievous tone in Max's voice and shook my head.

"No," I squirmed as Max's fingers worked their way lightly over my stomach, "I think he's honestly being respectful of my job."

"_Orrr _he's finally given in to the siren call of your panties," Max countered as he slid one hand down between my slick folds while the other fingers gently tweaked my nipple. My eyes fluttered closed and I leaned my head back, giving him better access to my neck. He growled and bit down on my earlobe.

"Mmm I wish." It was out before I could edit the thought and I winced, knowing how much Chris would _not_ appreciate my discussing our relationship with the other guys.

"Wait!" Max paused, flipping me effortlessly onto my back and pinning me beneath him. The maniacal grin on his face made me cringe. Chris was going to murder me. "You haven't? Not even one time?"

Biting down on my bottom lip, I shook my head.

"Je ne le crois pas! All that grab-assing and _nothing_?" I shook my head again and wished even harder for the monster under the bed to swallow me whole. "Wow...merde, you really haven't, have you?" Shaking his head a grin spread across his face. "Tabernac, all that shit about waiting...we thought it was fucking bullshit," he cackled, looking far too pleased with himself for my liking. "The guys are gonna love this shit."

"No!" I gave him a shove and crawled backwards, out from under him. "You can't say _anything_," I added vehemently, "Please, I shouldn't have said anything."

Max tilted his head to the side and smirked. "You do realize the only reason he hasn't is because he's waiting for you to beg, comme ça?" For the second time I didn't argue, just shrugged one shoulder. "Oh that I would like to see! I should ask him to record that for the rest of us!" he laughed while I frowned at him.

"Thanks for the sympathy!" I grumbled, reaching for my robe.

"Hey!" Max tackled me, pinning me beneath him again. "So he makes you wait a little. If you think about it, it's actually kind of sweet."

"But it's giving me a complex!" I whined, stuck out my bottom lip and peeked up at him, blinking innocently.

He just laughed and leaned down to nip at my bottom lip."You're having sex, several times a day, with what, twenty guys?"

"Hey!" The gross exaggeration sounded, well, _gross_.

"You're really trying to tell me that one hold out is making you feel inadequate?" I held up my hand, forefinger and thumb about an inch apart. Max rolled his eyes. "So my getting engaged and still wanting to fuck the shit out of you doesn't help at all?"

"It _does_ I absolutely _swear_ but…" I scrunched up my nose. All my boys were special to me in their own ways but how did I tell them that they weren't as special as Chris was? That he was...well, different.

"I'm messin'. I know you two are all loved up," he snorted, easing himself down beside me and reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. "Just remember though, ma cocotte, he had to run after you, don't let him make you come crawling, d'accord?" I shivered as he ran his fingers gently over my hip.

"D'accord," I nodded and then yawned. "I better go, I need my beauty sleep," I mumbled, closing my eyes for just a second. Max always wore me out, a fact about which he was very proud.

"Stay," he said quietly, pressing his lips gently to the corner of my mouth.

I smiled and ran my fingers through his thick, dark hair but shook my head. "Can't," I whispered and sat up to pull my robe on. He frowned and then tilted his head to the side like a dog does when they're listening to a strange noise.

"New hard limit?" he asked. I shrugged one shoulder as I climbed off the bed and tightened the sash around my waist.

"Something like that," I replied softly. Rolling over onto his stomach he leaned his chin into his hands and smirked.

"Oh I get it," he snorted, "Il met le pied à terre." I rolled my eyes and turned to leave. As I walked through the door I was serenaded with another round of "Chris and Penny sitting in a tree," along with a bark of maniacal laughter. Heaving a sigh I dug in the pocket of my robe for my phone.

_On my way 2 bed_ I texted. It took less than three seconds to get a reply.

**Higgy20**:_ ur watch dog is waiting. c u breakfast beautiful. sweet dreams_

I shook my head and smiled as I dropped my phone into my pocket and dug for my hotel swipe card.

"Hi Hammer, I'm home!" I called as I pushed the door open. I heard the volume on the TV go way down and as I turned the corner my real live body pillow was fluffing the pillows and turning down my side of the bed. As guard dogs went, this one didn't bite.

"Good day at the office, dear?"

I narrowed my eyes and thought about giving him the finger. "Oh indeed," I replied huskily instead, stretching until the robe slipped to reveal my bare shoulder. "It was a lot of…hard…dirty…back-breaking work." I flashed him a sultry smile and watched him swallow hard as he stared at the little bit of skin I was showing. "If I start moaning in my sleep, don't wake me until I've finished. Twice."

Dan groaned and whipped his pillow at me. "BRAT!"

Laughing, I picked it up and tossed it back to him. Nothing was likely to ever happen between Hammer and I but he wasn't exactly immune to the situation. Even his wife had gotten in on teasing him about the fact that many nights on the road he was curled up with someone that had the skills to get his teammates hard by simply whispering their names while he only _cuddled _with her. I absolutely respected his boundaries but I still liked to poke at him occasionally just for a giggle.

"I'm gonna have a shower and come right to bed."

"Why is your sex hair always the worst after Max?" he snickered and turned the volume on the TV back up. He was watching re-runs of Dexter. Not the wisest before-bed fare as far as I was concerned.

I shrugged, heading into the bathroom when my phone vibrated again. I slipped it out of my pocket and glanced at the screen.

**MadMax40**: _Chris and Penny sitting in a tree… k. i. s. s. i. n. g! _

**MadMax40**: _first comes loooove, then comes marriage then comes Max in a baby carriage xoxo_

Seriously? The boy took the time to actually type out the damned rhyme? Obviously I hadn't worn him out as much as I'd thought. I shook my head but couldn't resist texting back.

_Sucking his thumb and peeing his pants and doing the chicken dance :-P Go to SLEEP!_

Then I turned off my phone. Once you got Max started...well... yeah, you get the picture.

* * *

Everyone was sticking unusually close together. Even some of the guys who normally would have still been asleep in bed were at the Glendale golf course because they couldn't rest.

It was trade deadline day and despite Coach AV's insistence that the club had no plans to make any major moves, this wasn't the first rodeo for a lot of the guys and they knew that promises were meant to be broken. It was my first trade deadline day though and I'd barely slept all night, as if staying awake and keeping an eye on my boys could prevent the heavy hand of management from snatching any of them away from me.

It was a very subdued breakfast gathering. Everyone was on edge, wondering about their futures, _all_ of our futures. I picked at the cranberry muffin on the plate in front of me, very conscious that it had been this day a year before that had brought Chris and Max to Vancouver.

"They're not going to trade me," Chris insisted softly, reaching across the table and gently tugging my phone out of my hand. I stared after it and whimpered. I had been glued to both Sportsnet and Sports Center and their streaming updates. "Pen, Coach calls me `The Band-Aid'. He knows I can step it up in the playoffs and that's all that they're thinking about today, I promise." I nodded but didn't look up at him. I was certain that if made eye contact with any of them I was going to burst into tears. "Max, tell her it's gonna be fine."

"Yeah, if anyone gets traded today it's probably gonna be Schneids or Eddie." I looked over at Max, alarmed and my breath hitched as my eyes immediately filled with tears. I was a heartbeat away from sobbing my guts out.

"Thanks," Chris glared at Max who shrugged, took his coffee and pushed his chair back.

"Face it, someone's probably gonna leave today, that's just the way it goes," the burly forward shrugged again, got up and walked over to the omlette station where Lou and the twins were chatting amiably, like they didn't have a care in the world. The tense lines of their shoulders, however, told the real truth .

"Hush, babe, it might not happen," Chris said softly, coming around to my side of the table, slipping into the seat beside me and sliding his hand up to knead the back of my neck. "They've put a lot of time and effort into Eddie, they're not gonna give him away for a bag of pucks." I noted he didn't say anything about Cory but then we'd heard that speculation for days. Our ginger haired goalie was the biggest trade bait we had and everyone in the league knew it.

"How can he play golf at a time like this?" I sniffed, finally looking up into Chris's big blue eyes. He smiled and handed me a napkin.

"Because gambling on the greens is what's taking his mind off of it. Plus," he added softly, leaning forward to kiss a tear away from the corner of my eye, "he wants to be a number one and he can't be that here. He deserves it, Pen and you know if he doesn't go now, he's gonna go in the summer, right?"

I nodded, sniffing and hiccupping. Of course I knew it. But that didn't mean I had to _like _it. Dammit, these were my boys!

"I don't wanna be in big Mike's shoes if he does move someone today." I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder and looked up into Kess' soft brown eyes. "Has anyone told him how fierce you are when you're pissed?" he smirked and I felt the tiniest bit better.

Our `temporary' co-habitation had introduced sides of each other we hadn't expected to find. Like the fact that Ryan was a pretty decent cook but wouldn't clean a dish to save his life. And the fact that apparently I'm very anal about dirty dishes and have a wicked temper when provoked. And that I hate discovering there's no toilet paper in the master bathroom _after_ I've already sat down.

Differences aside, I enjoyed having him there and loved it when the guys would just show up to hang out or grab a bite. Or to grab me and take a bite. The very thought that any one of them could be leaving… that they could be just… gone.…

My chin started to tremble again and I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep the tears at bay.

Kess' eyes widened and he glanced sharply at Chris. "Did I…?"

"No," Chris shook his head and pushed his chair back from the table. "It's not you, it's…" he gestured vaguely around the room and Ryan nodded, understanding.

"I'm gonna get some food," he stated and gave my head an affectionate rub before stepping away.

Part of me wanted to pull him back to my side, to grab _all_ of them and bind them to me somehow, to lock them to me and "lose" the key or something. Irrationally I began doing a headcount and tried to calculate how many pairs of handcuffs I would need.

Beside me, Chris rose to his feet and tugged me up as well. "C'mon."

"Huh?" I nearly stumbled, trying to put on the brakes by digging my heels into the carpet. "But we… the deadline… I have to... "

"C'mon," he said again, gently towing me along as he crossed the room. "Come with me."

We were almost out the door when I finally got him to stop. "Wait! Chris, I just, I need to…."

What? I needed to what? I needed to keep everyone in my sight to make sure they didn't vanish into thin air was what and as much as the idea appealed to me, it wasn't very...practical.

Fuck. My shoulders dropped and I sighed, turning my attention to the floor. This day sucked.

"What you _need_," Chris said softly, cupping my chin in his hand and bringing my attention back to him, "is a distraction." His gaze softened and slid down to my lips and stayed there long enough to make me squirm before he slowly raised his eyes to meet mine again. "There must be _something _we can think of to get your mind off all of this."

Oh.

My heart tripped inside my chest. The mere _suggestion_ of intimacy had flipped my switch from desperately unhappy and anxious to, well, just plain desperate.

"Penny and Higgs sitting in a tree..." Without even turning to look I flipped Max the bird.

"If you even try and finish that sentence, so help me Lappy, I will kill you with my bare hands," I promised. Chris bit down on his bottom lip in an effort not to laugh and it took every single solitary ounce of will power I had not to lean in and tug that lip free with my own teeth. "Let's get out of here," I whispered instead and the grin that broke across his face was like looking into the face of the sun.

Grasping my hand he pulled me behind him all the way to the bank of elevators in the hotel lobby. He pressed the call button and stared anxiously at the numbers as they lit up above our heads. An older couple in matching azure blue track suits appeared beside us. The woman looked down at our joined hands and then up at me and smiled. I grinned back at her.

Chris nodded for them to go into the elevator first and then guided me to the rear of the car with his hand at the small of my back while they were choosing their floor. As the doors closed I felt his hand travel softly over my ass and down the back of my thigh until his fingertips brushed my skin just below the hem of my linen sundress.

I drew in a sharp breath and glanced back and up at him. His smirk was playful even as his gaze remained straight ahead as he held a single finger to his lips. As the numbers climbed so did his fingers, slowly but surely working their way up the back of my thigh. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to stop from gasping out loud. Had it been Kess or Juice I'd have laughed and probably done something just as naughty back, but this was _Chris_ so all I could do was stand there, doing my best to stay upright and not moan out loud.

By the time his fingertips brushed the lace edge of my panties I was ready to slump to the ground but by the grace of God we had reached our floor and the door slid open. With wicked grins on our faces we high-tailed it out of the elevator and down the hall, hand in hand, like a couple of horny teenagers.

The door to his room practically embedded itself into the wall as we burst through it and then the entire frame shook when Chris kicked it closed behind him. My fingers worked furiously trying to yank his shirt free of his pants while he kicked off his shoes. Why he felt the need to tuck in his shirt during breakfast on a non-game day I could not understand.

We fell onto the bed pawing at one another like we couldn't wait another second to be naked. It felt like there were only two choices in the world; nudity with Chris or oxygen.

Breathing was entirely overrated.

I shoved his shirt over his broad, muscular shoulders baring all of that yummy chest and six-pack to my greedy gaze and then held him there, at arms' length, staring like I was standing in front of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

No, I take that back. I'd seen the Mona Lisa up close and that bitch had _nothing_ on the view in front of me.

"Holy fuck you're beautiful." The words were out of my mouth before I realized that they weren't just in my head.

Chris laughed lightly and rolled his eyes, reaching for me.

"Wait," I leaned out of his grasp and waited for him to stop chuckling. "I'm serious, Chris."

"What? C'mon, Pen." He shifted restlessly on the bed and made grabby hands in my direction but there was a tinge of color in his cheeks that fascinated me.

A lot of women found Chris attractive. No doubt a lot of men as well. Photos of his famed physique had been praised up and down the information highway but I had to wonder, had anyone ever stopped to share their genuine appreciation for how incredible he was? Beyond the washboard abs and the sinfully sexy cuts at his narrow hips, past the boy next door grin and sparkling baby blues… the man was pretty, without question. But he was also undeniably _beautiful. _

Gently I took his chin in my hand and forced him to meet my gaze. "Hey,"

It took a moment but finally he stilled. "Pen – "

"Hey," I said again and smiled softly when he finally sighed and gave in.

"What?"

My thumb brushed his bottom lip lightly. "You. Are. _Beautiful_."

It wasn't hard to read how bad he wanted to shrug me off but he tamped it down and swallowed hard, his hand slipping around my wrist to hold it in place. He kissed the tips of my fingers and said, quietly, "Thank you,"

It was a moment, our moment, and I knew I'd always remember it.

"You're not so bad yourself, Money Penny," he growled in very poor attempt at a Scottish accent.

Aaaaand, moment shot to hell.

But it set me off giggling again which is when he decided that he was going to tickle me until I puked and fell on me with a throaty chuckle, digging is fingers into my ribs while I squirmed and kicked and squealed.

"Uncle, Uncle!" I cried, trying and failing to roll into a ball beneath him. Grinning like he'd just scored in overtime Chris straddled my knees to survey his handiwork, which consisted of my skirt being rucked up around belly button and both spaghetti straps fallen down somewhere near my elbows so that everything up top was damn close to spilling out.

The amusement drained from his eyes and was immediately replaced by something darker, more...visceral.

"Damn baby," he whispered, lowering himself beside me on the bed and running the back of his hand over my collarbone, up to my shoulder, along my neck and finally around to cup the back of my head. He brought my lips up to his in a kiss that was gentle and soft but entirely toe curling, panty melting and pussy lubricating all at the same time.

I hooked my leg around the back of his and pressed up against him, grinding myself against him and whimpering with need as his lips moved across my jaw and down my neck. He ignored my heartfelt pleas and pressed butterfly kisses along the curve of one shoulder while he toyed with the strap of my dress.

I groaned as his lips pressed lightly against the revealed slope of my breast. My nipples tightened painfully as he slowly, at a _snail's pace_, mouthed his way down to where the dress was only just maintaining my modesty. One more moment, one more _kiss_ and he'd be there. I held my breath, squeezed my eyes shut, grabbed two handfuls of the sheets and bit down on my bottom lip.

This was new territory for us and the anticipation was killing me.

"Is this okay?"

My eyes flew open and I stared down at him in disbelief. "What?" The man had to be joking.

He wasn't playing. He really wanted to know. "Is this…?"

"Yes," I whispered, "_Hell yes," _Barely able to form the words I looked into eyes that were dark with carnal desire, animalistic with such blatant _want_. He groaned and with a slight movement of his chin the fabric of my dress fell away and his tongue swept, warm and wet, over the aching tip of my breast.

My back bowed and I cried out. I had felt that touch right down into the core of my lady bits, which clenched deliciously as he swirled his tongue around my nipple and then closed his lips around it, suckling gently. I let go of the quilt and dug my fingers into his sandy blonde hair instead.

"Sensitive are we?" he whispered, releasing it and blowing across the pouting pink nub. I nodded, biting down on my bottom lip, not trusting myself to speak and a slow, sexy smile bloomed on his face. "Both sides?" he asked, using his chin to pull the fabric away from the other breast. I moaned before his lips even got there, a moan that turned into a long, high-pitched cry as he gently tugged the tender pink stub between his teeth. "If you're gonna make this much noise when I'm just doing this..." he let his voice trail off and just looked up at me with that devastating grin and began kissing his way further down, taking the dress down slowly with him. "Your belly button tastes like vanilla icing," he mumbled while I did my best not to squirm and eyed the corner of the nearest pillow. I was going to have to bite down on that soon or the whole hotel was going to hear me.

"Chrisss," I hissed as he pressed his lips just above the tiny decorative bow on the front of my panties.

"I told you I had skills you couldn't even begin to imagine," he purred, kneeling over me so that he could pull my dress off the rest of the way. He let it dangle from his fingertips for a moment, I`m sure because as he did it all of the muscles in his chest, abs and arms flexed. I nearly swallowed my tongue. "I told you I could make you scream so loud they'd call the cops," he reminded me as he hooked his thumbs in the elastic of my panties. I was ready to plead no contest. I was almost there as it was and apparently we had barely even started.

"Pleeeeeaazzze," I begged as he continued to toy with my panties and stare at me.

"Please _what_, baby?" he asked, tipping his head to one side and grinning like it was the highlight of his day to hear me beg.

"Just...god...just...touch me, pleeeeaaazzze," I moaned. His grin grew and his eyes sparkled as he looked down at me.

"But I _am_ touching you," he whispered, running one hand up between my breasts and then down again, over my hip this time and down my thigh. I mewed like a kitten. "I can touch you here," he added, sliding down the bed, lifting my leg by my ankle and nibbling on my big toe. I made a face. "Or here," he continued, pressing a kiss to my instep, "or here," he said running his hand over my calf and following it with his lips, kissing the side of my knee.

I tossed my head from side to side. This was grossly unfair. I grabbed hold of the quilt again and clenched my teeth.

"Did you have something else in mind?" he asked, batting his eyes coquettishly at me. I growled in frustration.

"I. Want. You. To. Fuck. Me!" He laughed. It wasn't exactly the reaction I was looking for.

"What's the rush?" he asked, moving to the other foot and nibbling at my instep until I squirmed. How could I explain to him that, despite the fact that I'd fucked my way through almost all of his teammates that I'd been waiting months for this moment? For _him_. "We have all day baby," he said softly, the playful look suddenly replaced by an expression that I'd seen glimpses of before. A look that said more than either of us had spoken aloud so far.

He opened his mouth but before any words could come out there was a heavy knock at the door and both of our heads whirled in that direction.

"Higgs, Penn, you in there?" It was one of the twins. Chris got off the bed, grabbed my dress and handed it to me. If either one of the twins was at the door it was obviously something serious. Very rarely did they join the guys to play Nicky Nicky nine doors.

"Be right there!" Chris called, sending me an apologetic glance as he grabbed his shirt from the edge of the bed and pulled it on. "It'll be okay,' he said quietly.

I wasn't sure if he meant the deadline or if he was talking about what we'd just _almost_ done.

* * *

"I can't believe you're going!" I wrapped my arms around Cody's neck and felt his arms settle around my waist.

"It's kind of a relief," he admitted in a whisper before he kissed my cheek and tried to let me go but I clung to him. It had happened. They were trading one of my boys. It felt like we were breaking up; like a break up where you both knew it was over but you still loved the person.

"You'll do amazing," I promised, giving him another hug. He laughed but it sounded nervous and uneasy.

"Thanks," he shrugged.

"No, you listen to me. They must want you pretty bad. I heard we got two guys for you so you go there and you kick some ass," I shook my finger at him.

He grinned like a little kid. "Thanks Pen, You've always been on my side," Cody said softly, "and that means a lot. I won't forget you."

I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. Yep, I was gonna lose it.

"You will when you get between the thighs of the Swords' Specialist," Lappy smirked and punched Cody in the arm. The rookie turned all kinds of shades of pink and red.

"Yeah, you don't get counted as the rookie if you get traded. Now you can partake in the pleasures," Higgy nodded. "Congrats dude," he added in a totally Jersey Shore douche bag tone. Cody's entire face went up in flames.

"Awwww!" I threw my arms around him again and he buried his face in my neck. "Just remember," I added in a whisper for his ears alone, "time to put all the bitching aside. You got what you wanted, now go be a superstar."

"I will," he promised, giving me an extra hug and then stepping back. "Thanks guys. You've all been great." He turned to go and I felt my heart try and crawl out of my chest.

One of my boys was leaving. It felt so wrong. It made me want to stomp my feet, cry and yell all at the same time but all I could do was watch him go.

"He'll be fine." Chris's hand snaked around mine and our fingers laced. I sagged against him, sad but… there was a heavy current of relief flowing through me.

I'd been terrified about what misery the day could bring; tortured over the idea of anyone leaving but it could have been worse. It could have been so, _so_ much worse.

"Told you they wouldn't trade me," he added in a whisper and leaned in and kissed my forehead.

"Yeah ya did." I couldn't help but grin


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Ah the ides of March. The Blues were in town but that was not what had me pacing my apartment like a caged tiger. Nor did the fact that Chris and I had not gotten around to finishing what we'd started in Phoenix.

The sound of a soft knock at the door made me jump. I raked my fingers through my hair and ran my thumb along my bottom lip to be sure my lipstick wasn't smudged...yet.

"Hi," I said softly as I opened the door and stepped aside to let the twins in. Danny leaned in and pressed an affectionate kiss to my cheek. Hank did one better, cupping my cheek and kissing me long and soft, like he hadn't seen me in a week. It felt like it.

"Penny, this is a friend of ours," he added as the third member of their party stood awkwardly just on the other side of the threshold like a vampire that had to be invited in. He smiled shyly at me and offered his hand.

"Sami," I said quietly, putting my hand in his. This felt like we'd been set up on a blind date that neither of us was really prepared for.

"Penny," he said my name quietly, that soft lisp that reminded me immediately of Eddie.

"We know you'll make him feel welcome," Hank said in a tone that sounded like an order. While it was given softly it still sounded firm and there was something in the Captain's blue eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead that made it crystal clear that there was no question about what was being asked of me.

"Would you like something to drink?" I offered, trying not to jump out of my skin when I heard the door to the apartment close. It sounded like the bars on a jail cell, final and intimidating.

"Yes, I think I would," the Swedish forward followed me into the living room. I had already poured myself a rum and coke but hadn't touched it yet. I took a large gulp now, the ice in the glass clinking as my hand shook. I had first date nerves.

"What's your poison?" I asked, reaching for the brännvin the twins favoured and held up the bottle. He nodded and I poured some of the strong, clear liquid into a small glass. "With or without tonic?"

"Straight up," he smiled shyly and reached out for the glass. Our fingers brushed and both of us blushed. Jesus, we really were like a couple of kids set up on a blind date.

"So, are you staying with Danny or Hank or at the Sheraton?" I asked, to make conversation, to be polite and mostly to fill the awkward silence as we sipped at our drinks and stared at one another. By now, with the rest of the guys on the team, I knew how it would go when they came over. I knew the ones that liked to get down to brass tax and the ones that liked to snuggle and watch a movie first. The newest member of our team was an unknown entity to me and neither Hank nor Danny had given me the slightest inkling what their new Swedish teammate's proclivities might be. If they'd given me some hint I'd know how to proceed. As it was, I had to wait for him to make the first move.

"Danny's, for now," he replied softly, eyeing me like I was a piece of candy he wanted but didn't think he could have. It was kind of flattering really. "My uh...my wife has to pack everything...and with this being the last year of my contract..." He shrugged and his voice fell away. He looked like a sad puppy and I had the same response that I would have had someone put a sleepy little puppy in my arms.

I walked forward and took his now empty glass from his hand and put it and mine on the nearest flat surface. He watched me with an interested but wary gaze and then, as I held my hand out towards him, he withdrew, the way a dog who has been hit will.

"I don't bite," I promised with a smile that I knew said I would if that was what he wanted. A slow, shy smile appeared on his face as he placed his hand in mine and followed me silently to the bedroom.

I led him to the edge of the bed and then, putting one hand in the middle of his chest, pressed him gently down until he was sitting on the bed. Keeping my gaze locked with his I reached back and unzipped my dress, shrugging it from my shoulders and letting it slip down to my hips. Then slowly, watching his eyes get wider as I did, I shimmied out of it and then tossed it towards the end of the bed.

"So...I hear they call you the Bull," I purred, kneeling on the edge of the bed, astride his lap as I ran my fingers through his short, blonde hair.

"I guess you're about to find out," he whispered offering his lips up to mine. I giggled and then lowered my mouth over his.

* * *

"Did you see this?" Eddie asked, handing me a rolled up copy of the Province. I turned sideways to let him past and followed him into the kitchen. He pulled out one of the chairs at the kitchen table and sat sullenly staring at his hands as he waited for me to sit down and turn to the sports section at the back of the paper.

"You shouldn't read this stuff," I pointed out. He raised his grey blue eyes to meet mine and I pressed my lips together as I slid into a chair opposite him, a mug of coffee in one hand as I opened the paper and quickly scan the offending article.

Eddie had been one of the heroes of our ill fated run to the cup last year and started out this season as one of the media darlings of the team. That love affair was obviously over. Or at least cooling, if this article and, I knew, the sports radio guys were concerned.

"I know there's some valid points in there," he grumbled, clasping and unclasping his hands on the table, "but, I'm not that bad..._am_ I?" This was one of the hardest parts of my job. Eddie was here asking me because he trusted my opinion and knew that, unlike his girlfriend, I would be honest with him. That didn't necessarily make it easy for me to say what needed saying.

"Everyone has good days and bad days." He raised one of his eyebrows at me and as I watched, the storm clouds slowly gathered in his blue eyes. I was dancing around the truth and we both knew it. "Okay then, yes, you could be better," I told him honestly. He heaved a sigh, his mile wide shoulders rising and falling slowly. He put his head in his hands and I heard him mutter something in Swedish that sounded a lot like curse words and then, after another sigh, he raised his gaze to meet mine again.

"Am I that bad?" He looked wounded, like a puppy that had just been smacked in the nose with a rolled up newspaper and I immediately felt guilty. I pushed my chair back, almost ran around the table and crawled into his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck and held him like I was afraid he was going to come apart.

"You're just a little off your game. It's one of those things. You'll get through it," I promised, though I wasn't sure if it was actually the case. This 'spell' of bad play had lasted a while now and I know that as frustrated as some of the arm chair quarterbacks were with him, Eddie was probably his own worst critic...except maybe for Bones.

"They're saying they should have traded me," he whispered into my hair.

"I wouldn't let them," I whispered back, closing my eyes as his mouth pressed against where my was pulse beating rapidly in my neck.

"I'm so pissed," he growled, the vibration of his voice against my skin making me shiver. "I wanna pound someone." I thought about the punishing hits his big body could deliver on the ice and moaned.

"Take it out on me Eddie," I sighed, digging my fingers into his hair as he dragged his teeth along my jaw.

"Nooo," he moaned but his body disagreed. I could feel how much he wanted to take it on me pressed against my bottom. "It's not your fault," he added as one of his hands with the long, elegant pianist's fingers skimmed over my breast.

"Don't care," I mumbled back. The flames of desire were licking at the inside of my skin already. If he didn't take it on me he'd have to leave so I could abuse the shit out of myself with the shower wand. "Fuck me Eddie," I whispered as his hand slid up my thigh beneath the satin of my robe, "fuck me _hard_."

That wasn't normally his "thing". Eddie wasn't a hard and fast kind of guy but I'd fantasized about it, about his big, lanky body punishing me, his long powerful thighs pressing me down into the mattress as he screwed his equally long and powerful dick into me. Tender, sweet Eddie was good, but mad Eddie...angry Eddie had the capacity to be even better.

I moaned as his fingers parted my nether lips and found me slick and wet, ready for him. He groaned into my throat and pressed his erection up against my ass. He swore in Swedish and then, all of a sudden, the chair beneath him went flying backwards and I was in the air as he carried me to the bedroom.

"Robe," he said simply as he put me down on the bed with a little less care than he usually would have. I complied, pulling the knot from the sash and opening the robe while I watched him drag his light blue sweatshirt over his head and throw it aside. He was moonlight pale and chiselled as if he'd been cut from marble. I licked my lips as he unzipped his fly and freed his long, hard cock. I watched it bounce free, its natural upswing making it press close to his flat stomach.

I slid to the edge of the bed and put both hands on it, wrapping my fingers around its considerable width and pulling it down so I could slide the tip into my mouth. He groaned and stilled with his jeans around his knees as I slid as much of his length over my tongue as I could manage. Everything about Eddie was long and impossibly hard. There was not a single ounce of softness on him anywhere, except in his eyes now as I rolled mine up to look at his precious face.

"Penny," he sighed and gently laid the palm of his hand against my cheek. "Du är sa vacker." If I hadn't already fallen for Chris, I could have fallen for this man, I knew as his thumb gently stroked my cheek. If it hadn't been for that anvil faced socialite... "You know I love your mouth," he said gently, that sweet smile of his like looking up at the sun on a bright summer morning, "but I want to be buried deep inside of you."

When he said it like that, how could I refuse? I slowly slid his cock back over my tongue, giving the head one last, hard suck before I let it pop out of my mouth and then I lay back on the bed and watched him step out of and kick his jeans aside.

"On your stomach," he directed me, reaching past me for one of the pillows. I moaned. I knew what he wanted and just the thought of it made my ovaries break out the castanets. Rolling over, I slid the pillow beneath my hips and felt Eddie settle between my thighs.

We both groaned, long and low, as he slowly screwed himself into me. With Eddie it was always a tight squeeze but from this angle it was almost painful – _almost_. It felt like he was going to come out the other side and when he made his first hard, shallow thrust all I could do was gasp.

I bet she didn't let him do this and I wondered, as I felt his massive thighs press against the back of mine, if he would even want to. I had something that most of the WAGs didn't and that was an ass. I understood, with their being in the public eye or at least thinking that they were how they would feel the pressure to diet so that they could fit into two hundred dollar size zero designer jeans. The guys praised my curves, _prized_ them and this was one of the reasons why.

"Damn detta känns så bra, har du ingen aning," he grunted and I grinned. Being around him and the twins, I'd started to understand some of the things they said, especially these kind of sweet nothings whispered in my ear as his hands practically circled my waist.

"Yeah, you like that?" I grinned to myself, pushed up on my elbows to raise my hips up off the pillow as I spread my legs further apart. He gasped as his cock slid to a deeper angle. "How about that?"

"Yesss, like that," he groaned as his hips slammed into my ass, pressing me back down against the bed. I gasped, my eyes squeezed shut. The sensation was almost overwhelming. I could have snaked my arm between my body and the bed, touched myself, but I would have gone over the edge too fast. Besides, as it was, with each quick, hard stroke he was brushing over that spot that alternatively had me gasping for breath and calling out his name in a high pitched voice that didn't even sound like mine. "Cum for me Penny," he grunted as his long fingers dug into my hips, as he plumbed the deepest parts of me, "I want to feel you."

As if I had a choice to do anything else. Two more harder, deeper thrusts and I came apart beneath him as if a thousand fireworks had all gone off all at once inside of my body and forced his name from my throat like it was being dragged out with red hot pincers. Two more shallow, even harder thrusts that pressed my entire body into the mattress and I felt him go, felt him draining into me, each spasm of his cock filling me with hot, thick liquid.

"Jesus, that was better than porn." The golf clap barely got my attention but the sarcastic comment managed, just, to drag my attention to where Kess was standing in the doorway to my bedroom with a bag of those chilli lime pop chips under one arm.

"Fuck off you perv," I groaned, unable to even lift my middle finger at him.

"I forgot he was living here," Eddie groaned and rolled off of me and onto his back, pulling one of the pillows from the head of the bed and tossing it towards his teammate. "Fuck off. This is my time." There was no acrimony in his tone and Kess let the pillow hit him and bounce off with a grin.

"Well it beats the hell out of beating off alone," he smirked, tossed a chip into the air and caught it effortlessly on his tongue; his long, talented tongue. I lay there, prone on the bed, unable to move and grinned at him. My silly boy, it was good to see him smile.

"Come join us?" I asked, wondering if I could take it if he did, if he gave my now aching pussy a hard fucking the way he liked to do. If he did, even if it hurt I knew that I'd take it and like it.

"Maybe later," he grinned and tossed another chip into his mouth and then turned and walked away. I listened to him humming to himself as he strode down the hall.

"I don't like to share you," Eddie whispered, pulling me into his body, parting my slick, pussy lips with his fingers, probing them gently, making me sigh out loud. I closed my eyes and snuggled closer to him. It took a good deal of effort but I managed to lift one leg over his so he could slide his fingers up deeper into me. I moaned and pressed my cheek against his shoulder.

"Then don't," I whispered against his moon pale skin. "Make him listen to me scream your name Eddie."

"Gladly," he whispered against my cheek and then slid the pad of his thumb over my clit and I nearly came again, even at his softest touch.

"Oh Eddie," I whispered, offering him my mouth, which he took softly, his tongue stroking over mine as his fingers played me like a flute, bringing music from my mouth which he muffled with his own.

* * *

"You know that's not fair." I snickered as Kess took the shampoo bottle out of my hands and pressed the width of his chest against my back. I closed my eyes and leaned back against him.

"Awww, poor you, sloppy seconds," I purred, which earned me a swift and stinging slap on the ass. That sting was quickly forgotten as he handed me back the bottle and dug his thick fingers into my scalp, working the shampoo in and dragging it, gently, out towards the ends.

"How is our young Eagle?" he asked and I knew he was genuinely concerned for his teammate. We all were.

"Mmmm." How could I say that socialite bitch he was dating was bleeding him dry and sucking the life out of him, leaving nothing left for him to put out on the ice? I wasn't supposed to talk about the WAGs that way. It was bad enough that I was harboring a fugitive in my condo.

"That bad huh?" Kess manoeuvred me under the spray and tenderly dragged his fingers through my hair until all of the shampoo was out and then reached around me for the bottle of conditioner. I had him well trained by now. I didn't need to tell him to put more than a quarter sized dollop in his hand.

"I'm trying to think of something I can do that won't result in my pulling out every last strand of her hair in public," I admitted. Kess's chest vibrated and his fingers paused mid-massage.

"Well...we could always wave one of the newbies in front of her, like that big dumb..." I coughed and turned to glare up at him. Ryan rolled his eyes. "Okay, it's not my fault he hasn't got two brain cells to rub together." I shook my head but went back to enjoying his ministrations. "Okay, not one of our guys, maybe one of the guys from another team? Maybe you could tell her you heard from their Specialist that he's got the hots for her."

"Implausible. I don't know what he sees in her," I muttered, mostly under my breath.

"She can suck a golf ball through a whole mess of garden hose," Kess replied without a single moment's hesitation. I snickered. What is it about men and blow jobs?

"Well there has to be another woman in this city with an equally talented mouth," I sighed. There was that girl at the cafe that some of the guys, including Eddie, had talked about more than once. I made a mental note to check her hands for rings the next time we stopped for a bite.

"There is one I can think of," Kess said huskily, dropping a soft but heated kiss to my shoulder. I grinned.

"Oh, is that right?" I teased, pressing the curve of my ass back against him as his cock stirred to life.

"Mmm well I could be remembering it wrong...maybe I have to be reminded," he suggested with a smirk as I turned around to face him.

"Reminded huh?" I whispered as I lifted my mouth and offered it to him. He took it as reverently as he ever did and kissed me softly.

"Maybe," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows hopefully. I smiled, licked my lips and began to slide down to my knees. "Ohhh...uhhhh...hell yessss," he moaned, digging his fingers into my wet hair as I licked my way up the underside of his dick.

"As good as, would you say?" I asked, giving the quickly swelling helmet a lick. "Or would you say better?" I asked, cupping his balls in one hand and getting a firm grasp on the base of his dick with the other hand.

"Betttttter," he sighed as I slid his full length over my tongue. "Definitely bettttttttterrrrrr."

"ThatwhatIthought," I mumbled, my mouth full and earned myself a wide, happy grin.

* * *

"You don't mind do you?" I asked as I unwound myself from around his neck, my lips still tingling from his greeting kiss.

"I'm the one who called last minute," Chris smiled down at me, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth. "What movie are we watching?" he added a bit more loudly to include Ryan who was curled at one end of the couch, remote in one hand, a bowl of popcorn balanced on his knee and a rum and coke in his other hand.

"Drive," he called out as I led Chris towards the living room, our fingers laced. I considered the couch, trying to decide if he would feel more comfortable between me and Ryan or if it would be okay for me to cuddle with both of them. Chris decided for me, settling himself at the other end of the couch and laying one arm along the back of the couch as an invitation.

"So we're gonna have to listen to her make sex noises about Ryan Gosling?" Chris made a face but winked at me as I settled into the circle created by his arm, the couch and his massive chest. I dug my feet under Ryan's thigh and grinned contentedly. I had my best bud, my man, a bowl of peanut butter m&m's and Ryan Gosling. What more could a girl ask for?

"You shoulda heard the sounds she was makin'...ow!" Ryan rubbed at the spot on his thigh I'd just kicked with the heel of my foot and I scowled at him. "Well you _did_," he muttered and pressed a button to make the movie start.

Chris reached for my hand where it was lying on my stomach and laced his fingers with mine. I looked down at it, at his thumb gently stroking along the side of my hand and smiled to myself. Little things like that made me so happy these days.

I could feel his breath across the crown of my head which was full of the warm clean scent of him, the musk of his skin, ivory soap, Downy fabric softener and just that hint of funky hockey equipment. I could feel him breathing, his massive chest rising and falling against my back. I was so...aware of him that I didn't notice time passing. I'd hardly paid the slightest attention to the movie, or to the fact that Kess had moved, had pulled my feet onto his lap and was rubbing them.

Hockey players have strong hands and I'd told Kess before if he ever had to stop playing he should become a masseuse full time. I edged further down the couch so he could get a hold of my whole foot and I closed my eyes to better savour the sensation of him digging his knuckles into my instep.

"You're going to miss your favourite part," he admonished me. I sighed and opened my eyes. Ah yes, the elevator scene. I wiggled my toes to encourage him to continue his massage as I watched Ryan Gosling push Carey Mulligan protectively behind him. I could imagine any one of my guys doing that but I reached up with my free hand and ran it along Chris's muscular arm. He captured my hand and pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist.

The kiss...ah the kiss, probably one of the best cinematic kisses, so much heat in such a short time, so many levels of meaning in such a simple action. I licked my lips. Part of me wanted to banish Ryan from the room so I could ignore the violent aftermath that would shortly follow and distract myself with Chris's mouth, his hands, his body but I was enjoying the foot massage that had now actually made its way up my calf.

"Mmmm magic hands," I whispered, closing my eyes again. I didn't really want to watch Ryan Gosling's character kick that hit-man's head to a jelly like pulp anyway, and my Ryan, Kess's hands were turning my legs into another kind of jelly.

"I know the ticklish spots to avoid," Kess said quietly, to me, maybe, to Chris. I groaned as he pressed both of his thumbs into the meat of my calf. I waited for Chris to answer, to say that he knew those spots too but then I thought no, he didn't. Not really. He'd really only been working on the spots that made me make noises like I did right then as those thumbs dug into the ball of my right foot.

"Want me to do your shoulders?" I nodded before I even thought to ask Chris if he minded. I gave him a sheepish, almost apologetic look as sat up and swiveled on the couch to give Kess my back. I tensed, expecting Chris to object, but he just took my feet in his big hands and held them almost like he would my hand, his thumb gently stroking the bottom of my foot while a Mona Lisa smile played at the corners of his lips.

I felt one of those frown lines forming between my eyes but I didn't have time to think about that. Kess's thumbs had dug deep into my shoulder blades and all I could do was moan. He knew exactly the spots where I carried my tension and began to scoop it out like melting ice cream.

"I'm telling you, you could charge for this," I groaned as he used his weight and his considerable muscle mass to press his fingers deep into my muscles.

"I have waaaays of making you pay," he cackled into my ear and then nipped my earlobe. I froze, staring at Chris, waiting for him to leap over me, to strangle Ryan to death but he didn't so much as flinch. He just kept watching us with that same almost smile on his face while he kept stroking the arch of my foot.

I kept watching him as Ryan nibbled and kissed his way down my shoulder but Chris didn't move, not one millimetre. He barely batted an eyelash when Ryan tugged my well worn sweatshirt over my shoulder and ran his hand over the exposed skin, down, just past my collarbone where his hand sort of...hovered. It was then, as I watched, that Chris's gaze shifted ever so slightly and he nodded, just once before his gaze returned to hold mine.

Holy mother fucking Christ on a pogo stick! My boyfriend had just given my roommate permission to touch me in front of him! I was so shocked I didn't even raise a hand to stop Ryan's as he slid his hand down over the slope of my breast. He liked when I didn't wear a bra around the apartment; it was easier access and just less work that way as far as he was concerned.

I could feel Kess getting caught up in this playing around. I heard his breathing get low and raspy, not to mention I could feel him getting hard against the small of my back. What I was feeling; however, was the exact opposite of turned on. What I felt was a full blown panic attack coming on. My heart was racing and my tongue suddenly felt too big for my mouth. It was one thing Chris knowing that I fucked his teammates. It was something else entirely for him to witness it. Plus I knew damn well that once Ryan got started, short of shooting him with a tranquilizer dart, there was nothing that was going to stop him from finishing what he'd started.

Whether he sensed my panic, or it was plain on my face and I wasn't nearly as cool as I thought I was, Chris smiled at me in that way he did when he was happy to see me and reached for my hand.

"It's okay baby," he whispered and then bent over my hand and kissed first the backs of each and then turned them over and pressed his lips gently to the centre of each palm.

"O...okay?" I stuttered, looking at him like I'd never seen him before because, after all, this was the same man who'd called me a slut not that long ago, who had sworn in no uncertain terms that he did _not_ share.

"He said it's okay," Kess whispered, pulling me back against him, one hand sliding down over my breast until he had the weight of it in his hand, the other sliding down the front of my pyjama bottoms. I gasped, neither touch expected. My eyes rolled back in my head as his expert fingers slid over my clit but I squirmed to get free all the same. "Shh Penny, honey, he's given his permission. He wants this."

My eyes sprang open and I gaped at Chris. Who the flaming fuck was giving permission around here? This was my body and...

"Wanna taste?" Kess slid his fingers out from between my thighs and offered them, gleaming with my juices, towards Chris. He eyed his teammate's fingers hungrily for a long moment and whetted his lips as if he was actually considering licking them clean but then he shook his head and smiled shyly.

"Not this time," he said quietly. Kess shrugged, I could feel the movement of his massive shoulders behind me before he slid his hand back between my thighs. I gasped again and then whimpered, wriggling to get free. My libido liked Ryan, _a lot_, but my heart was not enjoying being put on display like this.

Chris slowly got to his feet, covered the foot that it took for him to bend and press an affectionate kiss to my lips. He cupped my face and looked at me like I was everything. It made my heart soar and then Kess pinched my nipple and that made me cry out.

"I'll call you later, I promise," he whispered and then kissed me, softly but thoroughly so that my entire body went up in flames. Kess chuckled behind me and I knew he could feel the rush of liquid that oozed from my pussy at being kissed by the man I loved. He knew he was going to get the benefit of my body's confusion.

"Sure you don't wanna stay and play?" Ryan asked as Chris stood there, still looking down at me like I was something good and not something nasty that he'd just peeled from the bottom of his shoe which is exactly what my brain was telling me I was right at that moment.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said quietly and then, pressing one more kiss to the frown line between my eyes, he turned to leave. I wanted to call out to him, to bring him back but at the same time my body wanted no more distractions, no more hesitations. I watched him reach for the door and his name was on the tip of my tongue but when he turned to look back at me, at us, I didn't call out to stop him because he smiled and the expression on his face made it crystal clear that he actually wanted to stay. "Not like this," he said quietly and then blew me a kiss and went out the door before I could call him back.

"I think someone's going home with a major case of blue balls," Kess chuckled into my ear. I whimpered but didn't disagree. That seemed like all we'd been doing lately, leaving one another with an unquenched fire but then I always had someone ready and willing to put mine out. Chris, on the other hand...

"Why, why'd you do that?" I asked, scrambling free of him and his hands that knew just what to do to stop me from thinking straight, or at all.

"_Because_," he grinned, grabbing my ankles and pulling me back towards him, under him, "we're all beginning to think if we don't get you two in a three way, you're never gonna actually do the deed, make the beast with two backs, dance the horizontal mambo," he informed me as he easily pinned both of my hands over my head.

"We will, in _our own_ time," I snarled back at him but he just smiled down at me. He was used to my empty threats.

"And, until then, I get to do whatever I want to you," he grinned and then quickly, before I had a chance to object, nipped at my bottom lip.

"I should go after him," I whined.

"And catch him polishing the pope in the car. I don't think he'd thank you for that," Ryan smirked as he slowly and seemingly effortlessly lowered his weight over me. "Just think, all summer he's going to have to feed your beast," he whispered against the curve of my neck, "and that is one insatiable beast you have Miss Penny."

I couldn't help it. I gave in. I gave in to the feel of his lips pressed against the pulse point in my neck, the brush of his palm over my breasts and the insistent probe of his fingers inside my panties. Ryan was right. Chris could have stayed. It had been his choice to go. He had promised to call me later. I would hold him to that and I decided right then and there that we would talk about this. No more dancing around the subject. I wanted him and now I was sure he wanted me, so what in the hell was the hold up?

"Hey," I answered quietly, dipping a teabag into a cup as I sat on a stool in the kitchen. Ryan was snoring on the sofa in front of the evening news, clutching the empty popcorn bowl like a child would a much loved teddy bear.

"Hey yourself," he replied quietly. I wasn't certain but I thought that I detected a note of trepidation in his voice and here I'd been pacing the room, climbing the walls thinking that he was thinking that I was putting my libido in front of my relationship. "Are you...were you mad when I left?" I thought about my answer carefully as I continued to dunk the tea bag in the scalding hot water.

"Mad, no...but I _was_ confused," I admitted. There was silence on the other end of the line but I knew him well enough that I could picture him smiling in that way that always made me think he had a secret that I wanted to tickle out of him.

"Me too," he replied very softly and those two words made all of those muscles south of my belly button clench in that special way they did when he said my name or looked at me that way he had earlier, like I was everything. I didn't know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut and kept swirling my teabag, watching the water darken. "You know all this stuff...the sharing you stuff hasn't been easy for me," he began and that deliciously pleasant feeling I had stirring in the pit of my stomach immediately turned into a lead weight and lay there like something inert and dead.

"Chris if you're...," I began, tears immediately beginning to well in my eyes at the thought of the 'it's not you it's me' that I was sure was coming next.

"No, babe, it's not...," he paused and I held my breath but there was a smile in his voice, I was almost sure of it. "I just never expected to be so...so _turned on_ by the idea." I rolled the words around in my mind and restrained myself from doing the happy dance right there in the middle of my kitchen.

"You were?" I asked quietly, feeling my cheeks heat up. I turned my back on the snoring Kess just in case he woke up. This seemed infinitely personal and I didn't want to share this moment with anyone else.

"Yeah," he sighed and I could picture him sitting back in the chair relaxing all of his glorious muscles now that he'd gotten it off his chest. "Just so you know...I didn't want to go."

"Then why did you?" I asked immediately. I wandered further into the kitchen and began to rearrange the magnets on my fridge door.

"Because," he began and there it was for certain this time, the wide Higgy grin that made his big blue eyes crinkle at the corner. "Because our first time shouldn't be shared with someone else," he added softly, his voice like a gentle caress, his fingers brushing lightly over my skin. I shivered. "I didn't want you to think I didn't want you Pen," he added and I knew that he was serious. I could hear his smile fading at the corners.

"Welllll, don't you think we should do something about that?" I asked a little hesitantly, squeezing my eyes shut and praying he wouldn't come up with yet another excuse as to why we shouldn't finally sleep together.

"Yeah," he replied softly and this time the touch felt lower, lighter, like he'd opened a few buttons and was gently brushing his fingertips over my belly button, just teasing like that. "But uh...I had this idea and you can totally tell me now if you want, okay?" I frowned and the sensation of his butterfly light caress evaporated.

"Ooookaaaaay," I began, going back to rearranging the magnets.

"I think I want to watch you with one of the other guys...like, maybe, Kev." I stared at the stainless steel door on the fridge and poetry magnets and felt my pulse quicken.

"You want to watch...me..._with_ Kev?" I asked, pitching my voice low even though I could still hear Kess snoring in the living room and there was no one else to hear me. No one else except the man on the other end of the line who had just asked me to fuck another man in front of him. At least that was what I _thought_ that he'd just asked.

"I know...it must seem...I mean after all the things I said but...I never expected to feel like that, but babe you have to believe me...it was such a turn on to watch you...to see your face...to know that you like what he was doing to you." I did my best to digest what he was saying but suddenly all I could do was squirm.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that," I admitted. The idea of being with Chris had been just about the only thing on my mind for quite a while now. The idea of still not having been with him but having him watch me with someone else? I shuddered.

"Like I said babe, it's totally up to you but...I just sort of think...I mean besides it be exciting, that if I could watch you then I'd be sure that when we do...when I'm with you..."

"That it would be different," I finished his thought with a sigh. So it still came down to that.

"But mostly because it would be hot," he added with a hint of that Higgy grin that turned my girl parts to liquid. I sighed again.

"Let me think about it."


	16. Chapter 16

_I literally did not realize that this chapter had never been posted & I'm sooo sorry because it's KRAZEE hot._

**Chapter 16**

"I'm sorry, you two want me to do _what_?"

I glared at Kev across the table and he grinned back at me, like a kid just awarded first prize in the spelling bee, his chest puffed up and wearing a cat that got the canary smile. "Keep your voice down, you don't have to tell the whole team," I hissed and turned my attention back to the half eaten pancakes in front of me. I'd been mulling this over for a week now. To ask, or not to ask, that had been the question. Now that the question had been asked I was wishing I could un-ask it.

"But you asked _me_, and that is so worth rubbing in their faces, especially Kess's because he will be pissed that you didn't ask him."

I glanced over towards the table where Kess and that new big, slow kid traded to us from Buffalo were talking in low earnest tones. Yes, there was no doubt in my mind that Kess would be hurt over not being my first choice but it couldn't work otherwise. It already had the potential to become awkward as hell with the very likely possibility of blowing up in my face; and not in a kinky sexy way either. Kev liked winning, sure, but that wasn't his be all and end all. With Kess this would have turned into a pissing contest for sure.

"Which is exactly why I'm begging you to keep your voice down," I growled again and reached for my hot chocolate. I'd already taken all the whip cream and sprinkles off of it but I still enjoyed the thick, rich taste of it as it scalded the back of my throat. "And I _didn't_ choose you," I added quietly, "_Chris_ did."

"Okay wait. So, let me get this straight," Kev leaned over the table like he was going to steal another rasher of bacon from my plate, "Higgs wants me to go around the world, give you the works, right in front of him and he's going to sit on his hands and just...watch?"

I nodded. That was something Chris and I had established. Our actual first time was not going to be shared with anyone else. This was basically an experiment for him, to test his limits with my occupation. At least that was the plan.

"Kinky fucker, who knew?" Kev whistled low and sat back, stroking his chin. I went back to staring at my plate because watching Kev enjoy the idea of performing was making me uncomfortable in all the right places. "So is this something _you_ want to do?"

I blew out a breath I had not realized I was holding. I was grateful he had asked and that he cared enough to ask. The only problem was I still didn't know the answer to the question. "The idea has its...merits," I admitted, chasing a piece of pancake around my plate.

"That doesn't sound like a confirmation," suddenly Kev stabbed the piece I'd been messing with and chewed on it thoughtfully as I looked over at him.

"I don't know," I shrugged and went back to staring at my plate, "but I don't think I'll know until, y'know, the time comes. I mean, I'm not worried about...,I just..., it's one thing for me to enjoy it _without_ him around but with Chris actually there..." I slowly raised my gaze to meet Kev's shrewd one and a slow, playful kind of smile spread across his face.

"So are you worried that he _will_ be turned on or that he _won't_ be?" he asked slowly, pitching his voice low for only us to hear. I shrugged. That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? Kevin shrugged, reaching for his coffee. "Well I'm in as long as you're okay with it and we come up with some kind of sign, signal, whatever, between the three of us if someone wants to call it off."

I smiled gratefully at him. This was yet another reason I knew Chris had chosen Kev. As much as he enjoyed being balls deep in his proclaimed "second favorite place on earth" Kev could and would hit the brakes without hesitation. Kess would too, but he'd probably pout like a bitch about it until the day he died.

"Thanks Juice," I said quietly, reaching for his hand.

"Eh, thank me later after I've rocked your world baby," he smirked, to which I rolled my eyes.

"We'll see about that," I teased him back, watching his grin grow wider.

"Oh, I think we both know I have mad skills," he smirked and then rolled out his tongue like it was a red carpet and began to make it undulate it like a snake. Jesus, it had been a while since I had taken a ride on that pleasure train. I had to bite the inside of my cheek or whimper out loud.

"So, we all good?" I squeaked and nearly leaped out of my seat. Only Chris's firm hand on my shoulder stopped me from overturning the table and sending everything on it into the air. He eased into the booth beside me and slid his arm around my shoulders; protectively, but with a heavy possessive undertone. I didn't mind.

"Unless Pen changes her mind," Kev answered with a meaningful look over at me. I sent him back a grateful half grin.

"Good," Chris's voice was low, husky and it made my insides liquefy. I met his gaze and the hungry appreciation in his eyes made my breath catch in my throat.

"So when do we want to do this?" Kev asked as if he were planning nothing more than the regular in-flight poker game.

"Soon," Chris said softly, his free hand reaching for mine. "As soon as we get back home?" he was asking me and I almost wished he wouldn't. I wished that the two of them would just spring it on me, surprise me, so that I could stop _over-thinking_ this.

"Sure," I nodded, automaton like. I didn't want to make this part of the decision. I would go along with whatever they decided.

"_Orrr_ maybe m'lady would prefer not to wait two weeks," Kev interjected, pulling out his iPhone and scrolling through our schedule. We'd just been home for three games and now we were on the road for six more. "We have a really nice hotel booked in Jersey," he continued, raising his eyes to meet mine, "maybe we could upgrade you to the honeymoon suite? I hear it has one of those cheesy heart shaped hot tubs and a mirror over the bed."

"A mirror you say?" Chris smirked while I face-palmed and tried to slide quietly under the table.

* * *

I did my best to keep a straight face as the new kid, Zack, tore his napkin to bits. This was our second '_date'_ and I was beginning to think this one was going no further than our first one had. I wanted to reach out across the table and put my hand over his, but something in the back of my mind told me if I did he'd only withdraw further, so I sat back and sipped at my tall, cool Long Island Ice-T and watched the poor boy squirm.

"That...uhh...all you gonna eat?" the gap-toothed winger glanced at my plate. I'd eaten some. I wasn't really that hungry, or not for burgers and beer, which seemed to be all that this particular bar served. The burgers had looked juicy and mouth watering as they were passing by on other people's plates but the taste didn't really live up to the vision. Plus, my fries had gone cold. I can't eat cold fries.

"I was thinking we could get some desert," I told him, smiling in what I hoped was an encouraging and not a predatory kind of way. It seemed like every double entendre I'd used around Zack had only made him blush and sputter so I'd put those away. "Maybe to go?" I suggested delicately. It wasn't so much that I had the overwhelming urge to fuck the kid, but I did want to welcome him to the team, make him feel like one of the guys and so far, sharing a burger and a brew was as close as I'd got to achieving that goal.

"Um...yeah...I guess." I watched him open the desert menu to study like his life depended on it. It occurred to me rather belatedly that the kid was more than nervous, he was downright scared.

Oh lordy, I was gonna owe Ryan a hundred bucks.

"I think we can have them deliver it to the room." The minute I suggested it I knew that I shouldn't have. Beads of sweat broke out over his forehead and he nearly mangled the menu in his big bear like hands. It was kind of adorable in a hot mess, puppy tripping over his ears dragging on the floor sort of way.

I ducked my head and did my best not to let him see my smile when he reached for my hand and nearly dragged me over the table, dropping a pair of twenties onto the table as he did so. I didn't bother to ask where we were going. At this rate it was a coin toss; we were either heading to an arcade to play video games or he was going to have me in the elevator, which made me smile. It wouldn't have been the first time on the road, not even at this hotel.

Though his hand threatened to crush the bones in mine into fine powder, Zack actually _didn't_ attempt to jump me in the elevator. And by the time we arrived on the floor my room was on, he managed to gather enough control to walk towards it at a pace that didn't leave me galloping behind him like a wiener dog on a leash. But the very moment the door of the suite swung open, he froze and just stood there staring at the dark within.

Hmmmm. Either he was even more of a rookie than any of us assumed or someone told him my pussy had teeth.

Gently I tugged him inside and pretended not to notice him flinch at the sound of the door closing behind us. "Hey, we won't do anything you don't want to do," I promised, running my hand up his arm. He swallowed audibly and looked down at me with big, panic filled eyes. Oh. My .God. I felt like a sexual predator. "Ummmm, we can just talk!" I offered quickly, stepping away and tucking my hands behind my back.

Zack blinked once and then let out a breath I'd bet he'd been holding since I'd suggested desert. I turned to drop my stuff on the bed so that my grin would be hidden in the dark. The poor kid, he was mortified.

"You must think I'm a total 'tard," he began, running his fingers through his unruly curls. Had they been shorter, it would have been harder to do it, but then all of the guys had started getting a little scruffier. I liked it.

"I don't," I assured him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed while he paced the room like an agitated baby rhino. "I don't judge any of the guys. That's not my job."

He glanced at me, and then away, as if he didn't believe me. I didn't try and argue. There was no way he was going to understand unless he let me show him. Until then all I could do was wait for him to come to me, like you would with a stray from the pound. Eventually they all get hungry enough to come and take a little morsel out of your hand. In that regard, Zack looked closer to puking than starving.

There was, however, one thing he _needed_ to comprehend. "You can trust me Zack. I know you've seen me horsing around with some of the guys but this," I waved my hand around to take in the room, "is like confession. Whatever you say or do here...that's between us. I don't talk about anything that happens here to anyone else."

His eyes narrowed. "Not even Chris?"

I chuckled at that. "_Especially_ not Chris."

He blinked at me and I watched his massive shoulders sag with relief. Encouragingly I patted the spot beside me on the bed and, after a few more minutes of careful consideration, he sank onto it.

"If the guys...if they ever found out I would never..._ever_ hear the end of it."

Well shit. I cursed Ryan silently for being right but kept my mouth firmly shut. As long as he didn't say it out loud I had plausible deniability. Really, as much as I wanted to be there for all of my boys, I was the very _last_ person to be doling out advice to virgins. But then he looked at me with those big, pleading puppy dog eyes and I caved like a bad soufflé.

"They're your team, Zack. They've got your back no matter what," I said. He rolled his eyes and I tentatively reached out to touch his knee, pleased when he didn't flinch. "I'm serious. I know sometimes they can be immature jerks but they're the best of the best when it counts. Honestly I won't say a word if you don't want me to," I offered.

"And you promise you won't...laugh?" he asked, his gaze riveted to his feet.

I was tempted to say no. Truthfully I'd been hanging out with Ryan and Kev so much that the juvenile humour which used to make me roll my eyes now made me roll around on the floor, holding my ribs from laughing so hard.

"Scout's honor," I promised despite the imminent fear of breaking into a fit of giggles. A wiser man would have known that I wasn't exactly Scout material despite Kev thinking how cute I'd be in that uniform.

"Okay," he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders like he was getting ready to rumble out on the ice and the small hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Oh God. What if I had read this all entirely wrong? What if... _oh shit_. What if he had an even _bigger_ secret? I mean, I totally supported You Can Play and I'd shown my support at Pride over the years but surely there was someone closer to him that would be better for – "I'm kind of...no, I'm definitely _saving_ it... I mean, my girlfriend and me we're saving it for..., y'know...later or...ummm...whatever." Having managed, just about, to spit out his big secret, Zack now turned to me with a look of fear that immediately made me want to wrap my arms around him and pull him close.

"Seriously?" I smiled wide. "Zack, I think that's sweet."

"You do?" he asked dubiously.

"I _do_," I told him earnestly. It kind of made my heart hurt, just a little bit that I wasn't that special, that I'd never considered _myself_ that special. "I didn't think anyone did that anymore, but I think it's very sweet," I repeated, leaning up to plant a chaste kiss on the tip of his nose, "and your secret is totally safe with me."

"It is?" he grinned up at me like I'd given him a cookie. It was kind of adorable.

"I promise," I reiterated, waiting for him to recognize the sincerity in my gaze breaking the moment by purposefully mussing his curls as I got up and headed for the mini bar. I vaguely remembered there being a candy bar in there somewhere. It wouldn't replace the lava cake I'd had my eye on in the menu but chocolate was chocolate.

"Oh...okay, that's kind of a relief." I peeled the wrapper back from the Snicker's bar and turned to face him, raising an eyebrow at his apparent reticence. "Uh...don't get me wrong, it's cool that you won't tell but uh...the guys are still gonna ask...y'know...about tonight." He barely had the words out before every inch of exposed skin turned bright, beet red. I bit down on my bottom lip and tried not to smile.

Shrugging, I stepped out of the heels I'd been wearing and kicked them toward my suitcase. "So lie." The look on his face was so comically innocent that I found myself doing a double take. Facing the guys in the locker room was going to be the least of his worries; God help him if they ever suckered him into a poker game.

"I...," he hesitated and then made a face. "They're gonna guess, aren't they? Since..., y'know?" His vague hand wave could have been indicating the carefully turned down covers on the bed or he could have been referencing the curtains, which were still hanging in perfect order since he hadn't fucked me into clawing them off the windows.

Right. Okay then. "_Wellll_, I'm sure there's something we can do about that," I suggested, taking a bite from the candy bar and chewing it thoughtfully. "You've got a rep, right? You're a fighter but have soft hands?" I asked, thinking about the way we'd heard Zack described not only by management but the sports media as well. He nodded and then shrugged. The kid was going to need to work on his confidence. There was no point in being as big as he was unless he had the balls to walk tall. "So, okay, get up on the bed."

He blinked at me and didn't move. "Uh... I thought you... um. I can't have sex with you."

"Zack!" I gasped in mock outrage and snagged a hoodie and yoga pants off the chair by the desk. "You rogue! What kind of girl do you take me for?" Flashing him a wink I jerked my head toward the head of the bed before tugging the yoga pants up under my dress, pulling the hoodie down over it and the dress out of my sleeve. Had it been any of the other guys from the team I would have just stripped down to my undies in front of him but not Zack. The kid would have been in traction for a week. "Just do what I tell you and I promise you, everything will be fine, okay? Trust me."

He scrambled to sit on his knees near the headboard. "Don't let me fall, okay?" I instructed, climbing up beside him, nice and close to the wall. He nodded seriously and put a hand out to brace me as I gained my footing on the mattress.

Then I started moaning, nice and loud.

If I hadn't been so determined to make this guy's night a success, I would have lost it right then and there when he turned crimson and his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. It took a supreme effort to keep from dissolving into absolute hysterics over his reaction to my Meg Ryan performance. I squeezed my eyes shut and called on the skills I'd used to fake orgasms in the lifetime before I signed a contract that got me nailed by guys who knew what they were doing for a change. Hell, even I would have believed me.

Of course my act became a lot more convincing once Zack caught on to the program and added his input as well. My eyes popped open when he joined in and I admit my jaw dropped a little once he got going.

"Zack, yes, _yes_!"

"Yeah?" he breathed, loud enough to be overheard. "You like that? Huh?"

"Yeah, like that, more..." I gave a bounce that moved the bed against the wall. "ZACK!" His eyes lit up and he positioned himself better on the bed, rocking side to side, rhythmically.

"That's right. Scream my name, baby."

I tried not to laugh, mostly because I was out of breath from bouncing up and down. "Oh, oh, oh, yes... please... harder!"

"You want it hard? Huh? You want my giant tractor cock to plow your little garden?"

I glanced at him, bemused. "Really?"

He shrugged and matched my whisper, still moving the bed against the wall. "Fuck, I don't know. I'm just goin' with it."

I gasped loudly and then cried out. "That's...oh, yes, right there, _right there_."

"You want this? You gotta work for it, Pen. That's right... yesssss, you squeeze me so tight baby, like that."

"Nice one," I said quietly then sobbed with feigned pleasure.

"I learn quick," he returned and then caught me when I lost my balance on a harder bounce.

"Take it, baby," We kept moaning and groaning and I kept jumping and he kept rocking and at some point during all of that, I made a new friend for life.

"Zack, Zack, Zaaaaack!" I chanted loud and glanced at him. "You ready?"

He shot me a surprisingly confident grin. "Ladies first."

I nudged him playfully with my elbow. "And don't ever forget it."

Zack rolled his eyes. "I'm a virgin, Pen. Not a complete fucking idiot."

"Noted," I gripped his shoulder and the two of us began bouncing around, moaning and gasping and soon I was wailing like a banshee and Zack was shouting something I couldn't quite make out. Together we would have made Barry Fineman proud.

"Who's next door?" he whispered a bit later after we finally collapsed on the bed, choking back laughter.

"Lou. He likes to listen," I told him with a smirk. Zack made a face. "He also gossips like an eighth grader," I added, closing my eyes and yawning. "By breakfast everyone will know you rocked my world." I opened one eye and looked over at the big kid lying next to me. He was beet red, _again_. "They'll _think_ you rocked my world," I corrected, reaching for his hand, "but only we have to know that, deal?"

He sighed as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders. "Deal," a smile grew on his lips and he clasped my hand to seal our agreement.

"Good," I stretched luxuriously and then reached across him for the phone, "_now_ I'm ordering desert."

* * *

A tight game and a win eked out. The guys were in the mood to party... at least most of them.

When Kev and Chris got off the bus, both of them looked anxious but they couldn't have been as nervous as me. I'd watched the game from the hotel bar, sipping on red wine, trying to keep my knees from knocking. Now, standing in the foyer watching them walk towards me, so handsome in their sharp suits, I wondered if either of them were having second thoughts.

Kev's blue eyes shone when he saw me and his grin grew from satisfied to tiger that had just caught the gazelle. My knees began to wobble. Chris's sultry gaze slowly raked up my legs, taking in the little black dress and high heels before they finally lifted to meet mine. He offered me a slow, appreciative sexy grin that had me biting down on my bottom lip, barely stifling a whimper.

"Good game," I told them both and meant it. Kev kissed my cheek and reached for my hand, lacing our fingers together. Chris wrapped his arm around my waist and captured my mouth in a soft, searing kiss. It was reminiscent of welcoming my warriors' home after returning from battle. I don't know what the rest of the guests of the hotel saw but I knew right in that moment that both of them were looking forward to tonight and neither one of them was second guessing their decision.

So that left just me then. Jesus, how the hell did I get myself into these situations?

"Not too tired?" I managed to squeak as Chris took my other hand and the three of us walked towards the banks of gilded elevator doors.

"Nope," he smiled, his eyes twinkling in a way that suggested he could see right through me, down to my quivering knees and was probably enjoying my unease a little. I looked over at Kev and he gave me a slow, sexy smile.

"I've got rounds in me yet baby," he promised. I shuddered. Had I been wearing panties they would have simply melted off with just that look alone.

The doors slid open in front of us soundlessly and we walked in, managing to turn in unison to face the doors as they closed and not drop our hold on one another. The moment the doors closed though, Chris moved in closer, as if he was claiming the right to first contact and he took my mouth again, kissing me thoroughly, brief but firm kisses that curled my toes. I closed my eyes and kissed him back, wondering if there was some polite way of asking Kevin to leave when I felt his lips press softly to that spot on the back of my neck that made everything south of my belly button clench in a deliciously anticipatory sort of way.

"You look so hot baby," Chris whispered against the corner of my mouth before he pressed his lips over mine again, this time reaching for my tongue with his, sweeping over it and then deepening the kiss, his tongue twining with mine. I whimpered. That whimper turned into a gasp and then a moan as Kev's free hand slid over my ass and began to work the hem of my dress up, the back of his hand gently caressing the back of my thighs.

"I bet she's soaking wet," Kev growled into my neck but it wasn't me he was talking to, "she's been thinking about this all afternoon." It was true but it had only been these few brief searing moments that had my pussy walls quivering, the heat growing between my legs. Until they'd touched me I'd been on a low simmer, torn between excitement and anxious indecision.

"Is he right baby?" Chris whispered in my other ear, his tongue tracing the inside of the gold hoops I was wearing, just tickling the thin skin of my neck. Goodness but he had a long tongue. My imagination had made much of that in the past few weeks and now, as he nibbled teasingly on my earlobe, I mewed like a kitten at the thought of that tongue going to work on my lady parts.

"Why don't you find out?" My brain fizzed like the cork had just been pulled out of a bottle of expensive champagne. That wasn't part of the plan, Chris wasn't supposed to touch. He was just there for observational purposes but that didn't mean the idea of him touching me..._there_...didn't have a good deal of appeal.

Chris' teeth raked lightly over my pulse point and my eyes rolled back. Then again, we weren't in the room yet and I was aching. He paused, his breath warm on my cheek as he looked down at me, curiosity and, yes, desire burning in his eyes. He glanced over at Kev and I wanted to scream 'no, don't look at him, I'm giving you permission, touch me NOW' but I didn't. I waited, staring at him, trying to read his expression as he looked to his teammate for consent to bend the rules.

"Say the word and I get out on the next floor, leave you two love birds alone," Juice said softly. Chris smiled at him but shook his head.

"Thanks man, but...no," he said simply. I wanted to stamp my feet and pout but he cupped my chin in his hand and looked at me in the way that always made me melt into a big puddle of gooey marshmallow happiness. The best I could do was stick out my bottom lip to let him know that I didn't appreciate his not giving in to me. "We talked about this," he added quietly, reaching up to caress my cheek with the back of his hand, "you know it's important to me; to both of us." I nodded, mutely. "That doesn't mean I don't want to touch you," he added, his hand slowly sliding down my neck and over my collarbone until his knuckles grazed my now very erect and aching nipple. I gasped which made him grin. "Baby, you look so beautiful when you're all worked up."

"You think that's worked up," Kevin chuckled and then nipped at my neck, "wait until I have my tongue deep in her...ouch!" I grabbed a hold of Kev's hair and yanked, hard. "Well it's true," he grumbled.

"I'm sure it will be," Chris said softly as the doors opened.

None of us moved. We all stared out into the empty hallway.

"Well let's do this if we're going to do it," I decided bravely and took the first step.

Chris pulled me right back using the hand he was still holding. "If you don't want to do this..." I looked up at him and the real concern in his softened the expression in my own.

"The only way you're ever going to believe that there is a difference between what I do with them and what I want to do with you...,we _have_ to do this," I said firmly and I think it was the first time I knew that it was honestly true. He needed to see in that moment, whenever it happened, that he when sent me spilling over the edge that it would be different in every way. I wanted to make love to Chris. I didn't make love to any of the others. Admittedly, there was a very small part of me that was more than a little worried that he wouldn't be able to recognize the difference.

Sometimes it was hard to see it myself.

They followed me down the hallway while I did my best to stride confidently ahead of them as that old adage 'I think I can, I think I can' ran through my head. Once we were through the door and Chris was closing it and locking it behind him, the nerves doubled as did my pulse, my breathing and the goose-bumps on my skin.

I was about to ask if anyone wanted wine when Kevin grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his body, his blue eyes blazing with lust as he looked down at me. 'Trust me' he mouthed and then kissed me, hard and fast, sending my inner thermostat sky high. I did my best, while he kissed me and backed me towards the bed, to just go with it, to even forget that Chris was still in the room but I couldn't. As the back of my knees gave against the edge of the mattress I looked for him and when I didn't immediately see him, I felt a surge of unease.

Shit, we'd only just started and he was already missing. Was it too much? The way Juice had licked into my mouth was pretty filthy but only the tip of the proverbial iceberg; and if he couldn't handle kissing...

As if reading my mind, or maybe my body language, I felt fingertips brush mine and I peeked over to find him near the side of the bed, just standing there, pupils dilated, mouth open.

Hold the phone. He _wanted_ to see this, I realized as I looked up at him with Kev sucking at my quickly beating pulse. _Not_ just because he wanted to assure himself that my fucking his teammates would be different to making love to him but because Chris had also discovered something about himself that he hadn't known.

He _wanted_ to _watch_.

Pulling my knees up, I raised my hips off the mattress and pressed against Kev's growing erection. He moaned into my neck. My eyes fluttered closed.

Kev's hand snaked behind my back and tugged down on the zipper. I shrugged my shoulders forward and the dress began to slide. Kev helped it along, his hands moving slowly as he unwrapped me like a present, a present for Chris. "Mmm, no panties, Pen? Naughty, _naughty_ girl." Kevin yanked the dress over my hips and threw it somewhere on the floor.

I couldn't look at him as Kev lowered his mouth over my breasts. I closed my eyes and dug my fingernails into Kev's scalp. I was aware of him, could feel him watching, feel the heat of him near me but I couldn't register much outside of the hot, wet tugging on my nipples that had me writhing on the sheets. I could even hear the hitch in his breathing as Kev reached up between my thighs and dipped his fingers into my juices, slathering my pussy lips, my clit with them. I moaned.

So did Chris.

Getting up on my elbows, I watched Kevin pull off his tie and send it somewhere behind him. He knew I liked to watch when he, or really any of the guys, took off their clothes. He did it slowly, deliberately, like a dance. I licked my lips and did my best to make sure he knew that I still very much appreciated the view despite the fact that the man I loved was hovering close by.

Giving me a cocky grin, he took his hands off his belt and slid down the bed to dive his face between my thighs. I tossed my head back and let out a long, slow hiss. My hands slid out from my sides and suddenly I felt Chris grab onto one with such force I practically heard the bones in my hand complain. I lifted my gaze to meet his. His eyes were narrowed and a dark, storm-tossed blue.

My heart froze. For one, long, agonizing moment I thought it was anger or even hatred I could see in his eyes but then he slowly knelt beside the bed and reached out to gently, tenderly stroke my cheek.

"So beautiful," he whispered. It was like permission had really, finally been granted and I felt all of my muscles relax, especially those ones that Kev was digging his meaty fingers into as he pressed my thighs wider. "You like that?" Chris whispered to me, "you like when he sucks your clit like that?" I nodded, unable to form words as he smiled at me and then turned his gaze down the line of my body to where Kev was doing things with his tongue that were probably illegal in most of the states we'd recently visited.

"Oh Jeeeezus, harder!" I begged as if Kevin didn't know exactly what to do. Chris's hand was crushing mine and that hurt, yes, but it didn't obliterate the amazing sensations I was feeling, didn't stop that slow building pressure in the pit of my stomach and the small of my back. Kev had two thick fingers pumping in and out of my pussy as he sucked, licked and curled his tongue around the throbbing little bud, making me moan and gasp and whimper. Kevin could bring me hard and fast if he wanted to, he knew exactly which buttons to push and just how hard but he was deliberately drawing this out, teasing me and he had the patience to do it for hours.

I felt his lips purse around my clit, sucking gently before drawing off with a wet 'pop' and knew he was coming up for air. I glared down at him and he grinned up at me, his fingers slowly working in and out while he blew across my most sensitive tissues. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

"Something you want Pen?" he drawled, his grin growing as I continued to glare at him. He knew what I wanted, what I _always_ wanted by the time he had me teetering on the edge of an orgasm but I didn't want to say it, not in front of Chris, and Kev damn well knew it. I hissed at him through clenched teeth until he cackled and ducked back between my thighs, running the flat of his tongue from my entrance to my clit and then digging the point of his tongue just under that bundle of nerves as I dug my heels into the mattress.

"Dammmmnnnn youuuu!" I cursed loudly, my head tossed back, eyes squeezed shut. One more millimeter and he'd have me screaming his name and he damn well knew it.

"What do you want him to do baby?" It was Chris's voice, soft and husky in my ear and that made me freeze. I shook my head vehemently, my lips pressed firmly together. I didn't want to say it out loud. Words that I normally didn't think twice about uttering, that under any other circumstance I would normally just scream out, I didn't even want to whisper in case I said it again under different circumstances and he..._misunderstood_ their meaning. "Do you want him to make you cum?" Well yes, of course I did but not right _that_ moment. I might have complained, rather loudly, about his teasing me but I didn't want to cum, not _yet_.

"Pen likes to ride the wave, ain't that right?" I felt Kev's big hands slide up the back of my thighs and felt his thumbs dig into the tight muscle of my calf. I sucked in a ragged breath that was suddenly cut off when I felt his teeth sink into my instep.

"Pleasssssse," I moaned. I heard Kevin laugh.

"Please _what_ Penny?" he asked, one hand sliding back down my leg while the other held firm around my ankle so I couldn't squirm when he slid his fingers into my slippery folds and went back to tormenting me.

"Juuuuuiicccce!" I complained boisterously, shooting him a withering look that just made him laugh.

"It's not like you to be shy Pen," he teased, two fingers making a slow circle around my clit and then sliding back down to dip into my snatch before repeating the process all over again, making me squirm. "I think Higgy knows about your dirty, filthy potty mouth if that's what you're worried about," he grinned down at me.

"Tell him what you want baby," Chris whispered, or rather purred in my ear and then pressed his mouth over the rapidly beating pulse in my neck.

"_Fuck_ me!" the words were out of my mouth before I could bite them back and they had barely passed my lips when I felt Kevin line himself up before shoving hard and deep into me. We groaned, all three of us, in unison. My fingernails dug deep into the meat of Chris's hands and I felt all of my muscles clench around Kevin's thick cock.

"_Shit_ Pen," Kev gasped, his cheek leaning against my leg, his lips brushing over my ankle. I blinked up at him. I couldn't speak. It was always good with Kev but this felt...different. I glanced at Chris. His eyes were wide and dark, like his pupils had overtaken his irises and he was breathing hard, his massive chest rising and falling like he'd just finished a set of wind-sprints.

"Fuck her," he whispered hoarsely, "fuck her _hard_." I stared at him like I'd never seen him before in my life but I didn't have time to ask him what he was thinking, not that it wasn't plain as the formidable erection straining against his grey suit pants. Kev grabbed my other ankle and threw it over his shoulder, leaned against the back of my legs, pressing my knees down towards my belly and began to thrust, hard and deep.

I squeaked and then cursed like a pirate whore. It was no easy feat, taking all that Juice had to offer all at once, but walking that delicate edge of 'too much' felt so, _sooooo_ good. I cried out both of their names. I tore at Kev's upper arms and chest with my free hand. I drew blood from Chris's palm. I knew when we were done I wouldn't be able to walk for an hour and I didn't care. I urged Kev to fuck me harder, faster and every time he doubled his efforts the insistence of Chris' erection looked imminently more pronounced.

"Let it out baby," I heard myself whisper hoarsely, staring at the outline his thick, turgid cock made against his pants. "Open your pants and jerk that fucking cock for me." He glanced uneasily at Kevin but Juice was way beyond caring that there was anyone else in the room. He was sweating over me, pressing my thighs wide, throwing his hips into me like he was trying to fuck through me.

Slowly, hesitantly Chris slid his mammoth trouser snake free and gripped it hard in his fist while he stared at us, at me.

Oh my God. Even his cock was perfect. I licked my lips. The need to have the nearly purple velvety looking head of his dick in my mouth was making my mouth water but it was against the rules. Hand-holding and a couple of kisses were one thing. Anything else was to be saved for later.

"Roll her over," Chris instructed, his hand moving slowly along his considerable length. Kev paused, mid swing, and we both looked at him. "Do it to her from behind," He let go of my hand, I thought a little reluctantly, and then made a circle in the air with his finger.

"You're the boss," Kev chuckled. He withdrew from my depths and wiped the sweat off his forehead before unceremoniously grabbing me by the hips and flipping me over like a mostly uncooked pancake. I found myself face down on the mattress with Kevin dragging me by my ankles towards the back of the bed.

"Hard," Chris directed breathlessly, settling into a spot near the head of the bed where I could watch him. I moaned, just from the sight of all that thick, hard man meat in his fist.

"Glad to," Kevin nodded once, digging his fingers into my ass. His hips flexed and the blunt head of his thick, hard cock prodded at my opening, still slick enough for him to slam home with a long, low growl. My body shot forward, and Kev brought it back, pulling me against him, over him, until he was fully sheathed inside of me. "Fuckin' tight!" he growled again and then slapped me, hard, on the ass. I gasped, bucked and closed my eyes. He was right. From this angle he felt twice as huge and if I hadn't been so incredibly turned on, it would have been a very rough ride. Hell, it was already a pretty tricky fit.

"Pull her hair." My eyes snapped open and I stared at Chris. This was an entirely different side of the sweet and tender man I'd been spending my time with. I felt Juice wind my hair around his hand and as he very slowly pulled my head back I aimed a sultry, sexy smirk at Chris.

"It seems our Higgy already knows you pretty well," Kev chuckled allowing me just enough slack so I could turn my head to place an appreciative kiss just below his jaw. I wasn't about to forget that, even if Chris was doing the directing, it was Kevin that was doing the yeoman's share of the work.

Truthfully, under _normal_ circumstances, the only two guys who did any kind of hair pulling were Lappy and Kess. This was a bit of a departure from Kevin's routine and I was really enjoying it. I also really liked the visual. I liked seeing Kev on the verge of losing his shit, when his eyes got all unfocused and sweat startled to trickle down his sculpted chest. The slick movement of his muscles against my back made me want to be on my back again, or to have him under me for a while. I wanted to lick his chest, to score the taut skin stretched over his pectorals with my teeth but licked my lips instead.

Chris reached out and cupped my chin a little more firmly than was strictly necessary, forcing my attention back to him. "You have such a sexy mouth," he purred, running the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip and then pushing it gently past my teeth. "When you lick your lips...it makes me want to fuck your mouth." I moaned around his digit. The idea held a lot of appeal except that one look at the colossal erection in his hand told me that I'd have to unhinge my jaw to get it in there.

"Her mouth is nice, but her tongue...mmmm," Kev added, giving my hair another firm yank so that I was forced to release Chris and look at _him_. "Does he know the things you can do with that pointy little tongue of yours, baby?" I narrowed my eyes but my nonverbal warning was ignored. "You know about the threesome she had with me and Katie?"

"I thought that was just something you were spreading around to make the rest of us jealous," Chris replied, stroking himself lightly. I rolled my eyes but Kevin didn't stop there.

"Dude, you have not lived until you've seen her go to town on another woman. I thought my dick was going to fucking burst watching her make Katie squirm and scream...man it was fuckin' hot, let me tell ya." I glanced at Chris. His mouth was hanging open and I could tell by his expression that he was imagining the scene in his head.

"What is it about you men and two women together?" I panted.

"Twice the boobs," Kevin answered immediately and then drilled me hard from behind. I gasped, dropping my head down so my hair fell in front of my eyes.

"Did you like it?" Chris asked with his voice pitched low. I couldn't tell if it was still because he was that turned on or if it was because he was directing the question to me. I didn't need to know what he was asking. It was the same thing Kev had asked afterwards, and several times _during._

"Do you?" I asked breathlessly, turning the tables on him as Kevin filled me again, forcing my entire body forward. Chris made a kind of guttural noise that was half laugh half groan.

"The first chance I get, I'll be down there all day," he promised. I tossed my hair out of my eyes and stared at him. The promised in his blue eyes was enough to make me groan. "I told you Pen, I have mad skills." He grinned to let me know he was enjoying the desperation that suddenly filled my gaze. "That's right baby, I love to eat pussy and your pussy...mmm baby...I'm going to be spend all day making you cum for me." I whimpered and this time I heard Kev curse behind me as my body clenched over the thought of Chris's mouth on my snatch. "You're all soft and pink down there, and so Goddamned wet... fuck baby, I can't wait."

"Now...please?" I begged but he just shook his head.

"No sloppy seconds, remember?" He said with a teasing smile and then his gaze shot upwards, over my shoulder. "Sorry man, I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"S'all good," Kev promised behind me and then brought the palm of his hand down on my ass hard enough that I flinched. "I'm getting the benefit. I don't mind," he added with a labored chuckle.

"Is your pussy all wet baby?" Chris asked me. "Are you all wet and hot and tight?" I stared at Chris's hand as he stroked his palm along the length of his cock and licked my lips.

"She gets tighter when she's close like this," Kev told him, panting hard and Chris groaned. His hand ran up over the head of his cock and then down again to the base.

"Are you close baby? Do you wanna cum?" he asked. I wasn't sure. My brain felt like it was full of white noise and all I could see was his six-pack and his giant cock.

"Put it in my mouth," I begged, straining towards him. His hand stroked upwards from the base and his fist squeezed just below the head. I watched a drop of nearly clear pre-cum form on the divot and my mouth watered.

"I want you to baby. I do. You have such a pretty mouth but that's not in the rules tonight," he said softly but he did hitch his hips a few inches forward until I could almost lick the tip of his cock. It vibrated, twitched, moved up and down in front of my eyes. I moaned and my pussy clenched around Kev's cock. I heard him curse behind me.

"Jeeeezus man, whatever you're doing keep it up."

Chris chuckled softly and squeezed the base of his cock. "Will you suck my dick baby? Will you let me fuck your pretty mouth?" I nodded enthusiastically and opened my mouth, begging silently for him to slide that beast over my tongue. He groaned but held himself just out of reach. "Oh baby I can't wait to watch you wrap those pretty red lips of yours around my dick." I curled my hands into fists and groaned in pure frustration. This wasn't fair and there was only one way I could think of to make it stop.

Reaching back I stroked two fingers over my clit and cried out at the electric jolt that shot through my entire body.

"Damn Pen," Kevin groaned, his hands digging into the flesh of my hips as his met my ass with a wet slapping sound.

"Gonna cum," I managed, just and then looked up at Chris. His pupils were huge and he was breathing harder. His fist pumped faster along the length of his cock.

"I'm close baby," he promised.

"Fast Kev," I demanded and he didn't need to be asked twice. The mattress began to shift as he leaned over me, caging me with his arms, in push-up position. He pummelled me as hard and deep as he dared and I dug the fingernails of my one free hand into the sheets to keep from sliding with it. My other fingers worked furiously at my clit but I never took my eyes off Chris's hand, quickly tugging at the considerable length of his very swollen cock.

It was me that let go first, with a scream I'm sure the entire floor heard. My whole body felt like it was coming apart, like a bomb had been set off in the pit of my stomach and was ripping its way out of me through every single nerve ending. Kev collapsed over me immediately after, his own howl of triumph sounding wild and barbaric as his fingers dug so deep into my ass that I knew there would be bruises later. Chris was last and quietest of the three of us. He merely gasped as jet after jet of creamy white cum spilled over his hand and onto the side of the mattress.

I lay there, struggling to draw air into my lungs and felt Kev's hips still lightly working against mine as he rode out the aftershocks. His breath was hot in my ear and I nuzzled my cheek against his until he gave in and offered his lips for a kiss. "Once?" I teased him quietly. "You only made me cum once?" It was a running joke between us. Usually Kev could wring me out by coaxing two or three orgasms out of me before finding his release and putting me out for the night.

"Mmm," he nipped my ear with his teeth, "in my defense, I had live fucking porn in front of me. You're lucky you beat me to the finish line, babe." Gently he eased out of me and fell to the side, completely unconscious of his nudity. He lifted his head to look toward wherever Chris had collapsed. "Dude, it's your fault. I thought you were going to cum on her face."

I felt fingers stroking through my hair and rolled my head to see Chris staring down at me tenderly. "Maybe next time."

Holy fuck. I swallowed hard and blinked at him. _Next time?_

Kevin groaned and gave a stretch before sitting up. "I gotta get going before I push for that next time to be tonight." He slipped off the bed and got half dressed in his suit pants, leaving his shirt unbuttoned and his tie hanging loose around his neck.

Chris never took gaze away from mine, just continued playing with my curls and watching me the entire time. There was a lot going on in his head, a lot he seemed to be sorting through in his mind, but for a change I knew, I _knew_ that nothing bad was stewing in there. We were going to have to talk, obviously, but there was no recrimination or disgust or judgement coming from him at all. In fact, he looked ridiculously at peace.

Kev paused by the side of the bed and rocked back on his heels, appearing uncertain for the first time all evening. "So... are we all... okay?"

The hesitance in his tone registered with the two of us and we shifted our focus his way. Chris grinned and moved to get off the bed, discretely tucking himself back into his pants. "Yeah man, we're okay."

"More than okay," I agreed, making baby grabby hands at Juice so he leaned forward far enough for me to catch the ends of his tie and pull him down. I arched up against him, and kissed him deep and dirty until he finally backed away groaning.

"Don't make it too easy for me to stick around. You two should talk or whatever," he waved a hand. "And I promised Katie I'd give her a play by play when we were done."

"Give her my best," I said, crawling up to lay back against the pillows.

"Pretty sure I already had that tonight," he winked. Chris was at the door and the two of them shared a quick, hushed conversation that ended in deep chuckles and a manly hand-clasp before Kevin slipped into the hall and Chris disappeared into the bathroom.

I lay there, enjoying the agreeable hum still coursing through my body and was pleasantly surprised when he came back into the room holding what looked to be a wet cloth and a towel.

He smirked and knelt on the bed. "Well that was a first."

I giggled and gave his thigh a squeeze. "For both of us."

"Oh, really now?" his voice was as light as the touch of the washcloth on the inside of my thigh.

"Don't forget, I know the truth behind the Katie rumor now. And I know you, Kess and Juice have played in the same sandbox once or twice. I wouldn't doubt that the twins haven't approached you about it too..." he grinned, swiping the cloth along my calf and back up again. "Spread your legs, baby," he whispered.

I sighed and let my legs fall open, allowing him to take care of me, allowing him to cleanse and soothe the tender tissues so recently worked over. "It's the first time you've ever seen me like that. It's the first time I've ever seen _you_."

"Mmhmm," his eyes followed the path of his hand. "And what did you think of seeing me?"

"I think you're an evil, evil bastard for not giving in to my pleas!" I gave his side a pinch and he laughed as I had expected. "But I also think watching you tonight was even more arousing than what Kev was doing _to_ me."

"Hmmm," one half of his mouth curved. "That's pretty high praise considering the amount of effort he put in."

I grinned and then hissed when the drag of the cloth rubbed against my hypersensitive core. "Chris..."

His gaze shot to mine, a flicker of concern within. "You okay?"

"Mmmhm," I nodded. "Just...,very, _very_ sensitive." The cloth moved again and I shivered. "Oh." He withdrew the cloth and returned to the same place with the towel, drying me gently. I tried to remember that I had just had the most spectacular orgasm I'd had in a long while and could ignore the little flutters that were hoping Chris would see to giving me another. "What...,um... what did you think of seeing _me_? Like that." _With him_, I didn't say.

Chris paused and gathered the towel, tossing it over the side of the bed and then stood up, shucking his rumpled clothes. He'd planned on spending the night in my room and had stashed his suitcase in the corner earlier. From within he pulled out a plaid flannel button up and a pair of boxer briefs. I watched as he tugged the briefs up his muscular legs.

"_Now _you're shy?"

"_Now _I'm practical," he determined, crooking his finger. I walked on my knees to the side of the bed and sat back on my heels, letting him dress me in his shirt. "We're going to _sleep_ together tonight, Penny. _Just_ sleep. And that's going to be hard enough without us being completely naked between these sheets." He planted a firm hand in the middle of my chest and gave me a light shove that sent me flopping back into the spot I'd just vacated, laughing the whole way.

He turned out the lights and located the remote control to get the TV going, muting it so that we had the glow of the screen to see each other but no noise to distract us. When he slid under the covers beside me, we lay on our sides, facing each other and I found myself a little concerned that he hadn't answered the question I'd put to him before he became .

I bit my lip and traced my finger along the creases of the inches of bed that separated us. "Are you sure you're okay with what happened tonight?"

Chris' hand came down, warm and secure over mine. "Look at me." I peeked up at him through my lashes and was relieved to see him still in the same pleased, relaxed mood he had been in moments earlier. "I'm very okay with what happened tonight, Penny. And that's something that I really need to take a closer look at for myself." He shrugged. "I mean, the thought of someone having my girlfriend, letting other guys experience what should be all mine and mine alone... it makes me wanna tear shit apart with my bare hands, y'know? But, this situation is a little different. A _whole lot_ different, actually. And I meant what I said before. I'm not opposed to there being a 'next time' as long as we're all on the same page. And as long as it's only someone from our team."

I blanched, making a face just _thinking_ about having sex with anyone other than my boys. All-Star weekend aside, I wasn't even remotely interested in making the rounds. Despite what Patty Cake Kane hoped.

He laced our fingers together and tugged me closer, eyes searching mine in the near darkness. "This isn't like cheating, this isn't like you're out trying to score or any swinging dick can come up and get a piece, this isn't like that. And they're no threat to what we have. What you do with them doesn't change how you feel for me."

I swallowed hard and let out a long breath. "But now that you've seen it for yourself, does it change how you feel for _me_?"

"No," There was no hesitation when he shook his head. "I mean, you're beautiful; obviously. And I've found you sexy as fuck since the moment I saw you in that bar back in September. But I have never, _ever_ experienced anything as hot as watching Juice take you from behind while you begged me to cum in your mouth."

Was it weird that I could still blush after all that I've done? My face heated and I ducked my chin, listening to him describe our evening from his perspective. Though there was one detail I had to correct. "Babe, I did _not_ beg you to cum in my mouth!"

He chuckled. "Close enough."

"NOT EVEN!" I pulled my hand free to punch him in the arm, making him laugh harder. "You're so -"

"Charming? Amazing? Devilishly handsome?"

"Full of yourself!" I managed just before he rolled over me and dug his chin into the curve of my neck until I was helpless with laughter.

"One of these nights you'll be full of me too," he leered comically and I looped my arms around his neck.

"Gonna let me know when that might be?"

"Soon," he said, punctuating his words with brief, chaste kisses. "Very. Very. _Soon_." He slid off of me and waited until I turned my back to him, settling on my side. His arm hooked around my waist and pulled me back so that my backside was snug against him. "Comfy?"

I wiggled my ass and heard him mutter a curse under his breath. "I guess so." I ground against him harder, feeling him twitch with interest and then I stilled abruptly. "Yeah. I think I'm good now."

Really, I should have known better than to tease someone with restraint like his. One heavy thigh insinuated itself between mine and his hand slid down to cup my mound. His fingertips ghosted over my swollen flesh and he eased the tip of one into my snug channel just once before slipping away again. "Yeah," he sighed contentedly, the barest hint of laughter in his tone, "me too."

Asshole.


	17. Chapter 17

_I know, I know, it's been forever. My co-author for this has been going through some stuff and I didn't want to press her but she's given me the green light to finish this so here is the last chapter we were working on a bit ago and I promise to have more soon._

**Chapter 17**

I generally didn't spend a lot of time at practices. It gets freaking cold when you're not the one putting out effort on the ice or surrounded by a crowd of bodies in the stands. On the road though, I liked to sit in every so often just to see the guys at a slightly less intense level. It wasn't that they didn't take practice seriously but especially on game days, Coach V liked to keep things light and I liked to see the boys smiling and goofing around. It was like eating sugary candy and it did my heart good.

Opposite to what I would have guessed, Hank liked to have me there. He'd explained that when I showed up to watch them skate, there was a different spark of energy from the guys, a more competitive edge that he liked. That's all fine and good but I also got a kick out of seeing Coach make them skate until they want to puke or watching them take unmerciful shots at whoever is strapped into the cage, which is in no way an exaggeration. One day I swung by to see one of the trainers literally _tied_ between the posts, in full padding (I was hoping a little extra than usual) as the guys lined up to take slap-shots at him.

The goalies got the biggest kick out of that since it gave them the opportunity to practice their end to end shots on goal, against someone who didn't have a choice but to let the puck go in. But then, as I'd been discovering, goalies are a separate breed entirely.

That last morning on the road trip, while most of the guys were off at the nearest golf course in Glendale, I had hauled my ass out of the most luxurious hotel bed ever which I had finally had entirely to myself for a change just to grab a little one-on-one with our starting net minder, in the cold, cavernous expanse of Jobing Arena.

I had a bone to pick with Lou.

There were still a couple of stragglers on the ice as I climbed through the railings to drop into the tunnel. Defence had been the last group booked for practice and I spotted Hammer and Ballard still out there working with Bones. I knew the forwards had been put through their paces earlier that morning. I'd got texts from both Chris and Danny asking if I was interested in joining them for lunch at the nineteenth hole but I had declined both. The mission I'd set myself was important and the sooner I dealt with it the better.

Andrew Alberts was the only one left in the locker room aside from the equipment staff and he gave me the same curious, half terrified look he always did as I dropped my purse and jacket onto the bench in front of the nearest jersey. I ignored him and slipped my boots and socks off, rolling the hems of my jeans up over my ankles to keep them dry as I followed the sound of a truly shite rendition of Boogie Shoes by KC and the Sunshine Band.

I loved all of my boys but some were considerably easier to look at naked than others. Lou was a hairy fucker, all angular with long, sinewy limbs. I leaned against the tiled shower wall and watched him sing into a bottle of body wash while shaking his narrow, barely there tushie. He was about to "take it to the bridge when he gave a spin and finally noticed that he had an audience.

"Jesus H Christ!" The bottle dropped to the tile floor but Lou didn't make an attempt to cover himself. Our starting goalie was far from bashful. He was startled but not offended. Lou was never the first guy to grab a towel.

"Listen," I said seriously, "it's really fucking lucky that you have rhythm because you can't sing for shit, hon."

"I can too," he chuckled once he recovered from the scare I had given him and kept one eye on me while loading a palm full of shampoo. "You're overdressed if you came to have fun."

"From what I understand, you've been having _plenty_ of fun lately." I met his gaze unerringly, watching as he blinked, slowly, once and then again, before finally shaking his head and then sticking it, dismissively, beneath the spray.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about Sugar," he replied in a calm and dismissive tone that made it crystal clear he had no intention of having this discussion, which was too bad because I was going to whether he wanted to or not. I wasn't as easily deterred as most of the reporters who tried to get more than a two word answer from him after a loss.

"Look, I'd let it go except that your wife power calls me when you don't return her calls and just once I'd like to sleep through the night without her texting me a hundred times asking if I know where you are. So now I'm involved and we _are_ going to talk about this." He made a face that left no doubt that he disagreed. If I'd harbored any illusions that this was going to be easy, the unhappy expression on his face shattered it.

"You're not my shrink and you're not my mother, I don't owe you an explanation at all," he sniped and was immediately the sullen, guarded net minder the press always bitched about.

"You know, we're supposed to be friends and friends tell friends the truth; especially when that friend goes out of her way to save your fuckin' bacon all the time, Lou!" I slapped my hand against the tiles which made a sound loud enough to startle him into looking at me. I'd be cursing him later once I paid some attention to my stinging palm but right at that moment, when he looked at me with his big, dark, puppy dog eyes I almost felt sorry for him. "You don't have to lie to _me_ Lou. You're right, _I'm_ not your wife. But _damn it_ man, you married the poor girl, the least you can fucking do is return her calls so that I don't fucking have to."

He jerked as though I'd slapped _him_ instead. "I'm...we're not..." Brow creased, he looked genuinely confused as to how to respond. "It's not what you're thinking."

"Jesus Lou, at this point I'm beyond _actually_ giving a shit," I admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, you're right, it really is none of my business and you know I'm the last person that's going to judge you. I don't care whether you're banging the new intern in the box office or you're dressing in a clown suit at a biker bar and getting blown by midgets. I really don't give a shit. But at least let me know what the hell I'm supposed to be telling your wife when she calls looking for you every night."

His shoulders sagged a little and he stared at the drain as suds from the washcloth in his hand cascaded onto the floor. "It's not _every_ night."

"Yeah but it is _nearly_ every night," I countered softly, "and that's fine if that's what you want to do. But if she keeps calling me eventually I'm going to have to tell Gina something Lou, so help me, help _you."_

I cringed as the words came out of my mouth and his lips curved into a smile. "Help me, help _you_?" he repeated, amused.

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes but grinned. "Obviously I have to add some variety to movie night or I'll be speaking in film quotes for the rest of my life." He chuckled and leaned back against the shower wall. "I'm serious though, Roberto. I'll do what I can to help you out but you need to help me out here. We have to at least _sound_ like we're on the same page."

"You'd do that...for me?" he asked and had the balls to look incredulous as he did.

"I'm here to help, in _all kinds_ of capacities," I reminded him and prayed silently he didn't get any ideas about my spicing up his marriage for him. I liked Lou, to hang out with but at this point I didn't want to get in bed with someone that had been putting it around like I knew he had.

"Would you..._lie_ for me?" he asked, a playful smile growing on his lips that made him look like a douchebag used car salesman. It was the same expression he wore when he was about to go all in at the poker table.

I thought about what he was asking me for a long moment. "Do I _need_ to?"

The smirk on his face died by degrees and he actually averted his eyes, turning to switch the water taps off. "I'd feel better not having this conversation naked."

"I'd feel better not having this conversation _at all_," I countered sincerely. Leaning to the side, I snagged the towel he had set there and tossed it to him.

He sluiced the water out of his dark hair with both hands and secured the towel around his narrow hips, fixing me with a teasing glare. "You owe me a shower."

"Ha. Take a number." There were some benches around the corner and he dropped heavily onto one. I perched on the counter opposite him, careful not to disrupt the collection of manscaping tools and expensive name brand grooming products. People that say women are high maintenance have never travelled with a group of guys so intent on looking their best all the time.

Lou sighed a bit and then straightened to face me head on. "Okay...I've been, I...uh...ummm..."

"Just rip the band aid off, buddy."

Had I known that careless suggestion would have inspired the verbal diarrheal that followed, I probably would have asked for the Coles' notes. I sat there for a full five minutes as he did his best to explain everything that he'd been feeling for the last couple of seasons, all of the pressure he was under at home; the constant tug of war between Vancouver and Florida where Gina and the kids spent most of the year, the weight of the disappointment following the previous Stanley Cup run, the burn of the criticism from the fans all year round and the now constant reminders that our Ginger back up was breathing down his neck. It all came spewing out all at once and without seeming to stop for breath.

"... but with the others, with Carly, I don't have to think about any of that. I don't have to think about how I'm letting anyone down, how everyone thinks that I'm not good enough." He stared me down, daring me to disagree. I didn't. "They treat me like I'm a superstar and on the nights when I need to hear it, Carly makes sure I feel like a fucking king."

I said a silent prayer for the delicate male ego. "Gina would... "

"No," he said abruptly. "It's my job to be there for her. That's what the man's supposed to do in a marriage. That's what - that's _who_ I'm supposed to be. And I can't be her rock unless I _feel_ like I'm impenetrable."

Jesus. What he'd said just clicked. Not only was there a variety of faceless puck fucks parading through to bounce on his dick but there was _one girl in particular_? I could feel a headache coming on. Pinching the bridge of my nose between my index finger and thumb was useless to divert the pain but I tried. "Wait, so you're telling me that... to _save_ your marriage, you're regularly sleeping with someone else? Someone who, given the right incentive, could just as easily _destroy_ your marriage and your reputation?"

He made a face. "She knows the score, Pen. Carly would never do that." I couldn't help it. I smiled and shook my head.

"Roberto, after this front row seat to the completely ass-backward reasoning you filter life through, I can't even begin to pretend that I know a damned thing about the way men's minds work. But," I shrugged at him, "I can promise you I know a bit more about women than you do. My role on the team is to _prevent_ grenades like Carly."

"Right," anger flashed in his eyes as he glared at me. "Well as much as you say you love everyone equally around here, you sure as hell couldn't have given me what she does."

Ouch. I sat up straighter and glared right back. "Oh please. Either you want your cock or your ego stroked. I'd do both but you never gave me the opportunity since apparently it takes a bloody village."

"This is exactly why I didn't come to you! I need a fucking cheerleader sometimes, Penny and I know you'd be the _first_ one to turn the knife after a bad game!" He reared up, pointing a finger accusingly at me.

I batted his hand out of my face and hopped down, onto my feet. "Well maybe I'd be more inclined to cheer for you if you'd stay off your stomach and block shots on your feet for a fucking change! And stop cheating on your wife you asshole, it's tacky! You're killing your marriage faster than you kill a three nil lead!"

His brows drew together in a fierce frown and he opened his mouth to say something, no doubt something as equally harsh or twice as vicious but nothing else came out. "I don't want to lose my wife. I love my wife. But I _need_ Carly. I don't see why it can't just keep going the way it has been." I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Listen, I don't pretend to be a marriage counsellor," I sighed. I didn't have to like it but I'd meant what I'd said to him earlier, it wasn't my place to judge his behaviour. Gina was the only person who could decide what she would and would not put up with from her errant hubby. "But why don't you two snag a sitter and come by my place later this week. We'll have a drink, have some food, and I promise that I'll do what I can to mediate."

"Seriously?" He looked shocked but I was pretty sure he wasn't as shocked as I was uneasy about the suggestion I was making.

"Just this once," I decided, reaching out to poke him in the arm. "And enough of the 'you don't love me Penny,' bullshit. I care about all of you jerks. Yes, some more than others, but that's because some have larger dicks. Naturally, I like them better."

"Brat," he grinned like he'd just won the pot with a bluff and reached for the Canucks' logo in the middle of my sweatshirt. "You'd like my dick _more_ than the others once you got some." I danced backward out of his range and shook my head.

"Nope. You know the rules, Lou. If you're getting it somewhere else, you can't get it here," I reminded him. It was for everyone's safety as much as my own.

His expression sobered but he nodded his understanding and ruffled my hair. "You're the greatest, you know that?"

"Hell yeah," I said deadpan, heading for the exit, "I'm the mutherfucking princess."

It wasn't lost on either of us that I'd chosen to quote lyrics relating to a song lamenting his choice in women.

I walked out of the showers in the direction of my purse and boots. Alberts gave me another one of those wide eyed worried looks of his and whatever expression I returned to him must have been more ferocious than I'd intended because he hopped out of the room with one shoe on and the other in his hand in an effort to get away from me.

Gina was a friend. Okay not a close friend but I liked her despite her ice princess exterior and I hated to hear the desperation in her voice when she called. Stil..., doing what Lou needed me to do was my _job_, I reminded myself as I tugged my socks on. I'd play mediator and do my best to help them talk it out, yes, and I'd even lie if he really needed me to. But one of the greatest things I loved about being a Specialist and why the WAGS could appreciate or tolerate the necessity of a Specialist was the honesty surrounding my position. There were supposed to be no cover-ups, no pretending, no falseness or half truths. I really didn't want to lie to anyone or for anyone.

It chafed to think that even with options like me available to keep them entertained, there was every possibility that some of the guys were out on the sly – that they could be lying to me as well and that did not make me a very happy bunny.

* * *

"Penny for your thoughts?" I sighed and tore my gaze from Lou who was wearing the kind of shit eating grin on his face that told me that he'd probably gotten lucky with one of the Coyote's Ice Girls before he'd left the arena. I'd seen him macking on a diminutive blonde in the hallway and had fought the urge to drag him away from her by his greasy curly hair.

"You don't want to know," I promised and turned what I hoped wasn't a disapproving schoolmarm expression towards Chris. He narrowed his summer sky blue eyes at me and I knew I'd failed miserably to hide my feelings.

"He is who he is," Chris whispered softly and reached over to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. Little touches like that erased all the negative feelings in my gut and I knew that now the expression on my face could only be described as 'sappy'. "You're not really worried about him are you?" he asked, his rough knuckles brushing my cheek tenderly, making the pit of my stomach clench.

"I actually am, a bit," I admitted and then heaved a sigh, "but honestly I'm worried about what I've gotten myself into." Chris's brow furrowed and his serious face almost made me laugh. It was one thing for the boys to turn a blind eye on their number one goaltender's off- ice shenanigans but I knew damn well that didn't mean that most of them wanted me to have anything to do with them. "I've agreed to play mediator for him and Gina," I mumbled, sliding further down in the seat, reaching to flip up the arm rest between us so I could snuggle closer to him. Chris put his arm around my shoulder and I laid my head in the middle of his chest.

"And now you're having second thoughts," he filled in the words I hadn't said out loud and I smiled. Chris was really beginning to get me.

"Yeah well, no sooner did I agree to help than he's fucking some other puck," I sighed. "I'm just wondering why I offered at all, if I'll just end up spinning my wheels. Maybe it would be better if he just got caught red handed." I could hear the derisive little chuffing sound that Chris made in his throat and knew he agreed with that sentiment and then I felt his lips press to the top of my head. I wrapped my arm around his waist and closed my eyes. It was comforting to know we were on the same wave length.

"You'll figure something out," he told me softly and I smiled. He really was getting me. The fact that he didn't offer a solution meant he knew that I had to figure this out myself and it made me happy that he understood that.

"Sure you don't wanna join the mile high club?" I whispered, running my other hand down the inside of his powerful thigh. I felt his massive quadriceps flex under my fingertips and my mouth was suddenly dry as the Arizona desert.

"The pilot would end up calling for military escort because they'd think someone was being killed in the bathroom you'd be screaming so fucking loud," he promised with a throaty, masculine sounding chuckle. I shuddered at the image that filled my imagination of his powerful body pressing mine against the flimsy door of the plane's pint-sized bathroom.

"Maybe we _should_ wait to get home," I gasped.

"_Maybe_," he agreed and I grinned as he gave my ass a firm slap as I cuddled closer.

"Hey, hey, seatbelts people!" Kev laughed as he strode by us towards the cabinet that hid the massive stash of candy bars and other sugary goodies. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Mmmm restraints," Chris purred, running his hand down over my thigh.

"Oh god, now you're _killing_ me!" I groaned and he threw his head back and laughed loud and long.

* * *

"Oh _mannn_, really?" Kess groaned as he turned the key in his hand attached to a simple silver keychain, a script letter 'P' and managed to look like a petulant little boy, even in a pair of cotton spandex boxer briefs that revealed that he was definitely not a _little_ boy.

"All I'm saying is call or at the very least knock before you come in," I giggled, leaned forward and pressed my lips to the corner of his mouth.

"But you're kicking me out," he whined and stuck his bottom lip out as far as it would go. I managed to restrain myself from tugging on it.

"Me? No. Your wife is the one who put her foot down and gave you the ultimatum," I pointed out. Kess sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically, slumping back into the cushions of the couch and moaned. We'd come home from the Phoenix to find Andrea waiting with divorce papers in hand. "You need to go back to her Ryan," I said softly, reaching for his hand, which without either of needing to try, laced with mine. We fit together in a lot of ways but I wasn't in love with him and he wasn't in love with me.

"I know," he sighed and one side of his mouth turned up an ironic half smile. "I'm just not looking forward to the next time she goes ape shit crazy on my ass." I smirked and nodded. Neither was I and she'd sworn up and down at the airport that I was the reason he hadn't come home and then she'd pulled my hair, again. Ryan grabbed her, Chris grabbed me. If they hadn't I might have killed the bitch. "So…you gonna move him in full time or what?" Kess asked, changing the subject.

"No!" I dug my foot into hip and pushed. "We still haven't even slept together." Ryan raised his eyebrows and grinned like he'd just been giving a totally juicy piece of gossip.

"_Stillll_?" he shook his head. "I thought you two were getting it on the whole road trip." It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"There's a difference between sleeping with and _sleeping_ with," I sighed and tried my best not to smile in that way that betrayed me every time except that I couldn't help it. Whenever I thought of Chris this goofy smile just appeared on my face.

"Okay, if you're gonna make that face then I am gonna hit the head and then start packing." I didn't argue. With a shake of his head Ryan got up and walked towards the bathroom, from which Juice was just emerging in an itti bittie towel. I stared at his perfectly sculpted chest and let my gaze roam very slowly down to his directoral muscles and the goody trail in between.

"So what's this about our keys?" he asked. His set was probably still on my bedside table where he'd dropped them right before he pulled my jeans down over my ass and fucked me from behind so hard he'd made the bed skip three inches across the floor.

"Just what I told you earlier," I explained, my gaze now lingering on his wide, _wide_ shoulders. He flexed for me and I giggled.

"I hope Higgs knows what kind of a sacrifice we're making for him," Kev teased, making his pecs dance, just because he knew it would make me laugh, which it did, _every_ time.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate when you don't come diving in like a puppy pile," I reminded him, thinking of that final night in Phoenix when we'd all slept in one bed; just slept, no funny business. Not that I hadn't wondered what it would be like to have all of them but until Chris and I actually consummated our relationship, all of those kinds of thoughts were strictly off limits. Still, a girl could dream.

"Spoil sport," Kev coughed behind his fist and then whipped off his towel and walked back towards my room, buck naked and swinging that toned ass like a pendulum, mesmerizing me. I stared after him, licking my lips. It was an invitation to join him of course but I had a date with Lou and Gina. After all, I'd promised, even if it was a promise that ass was making me regret my choice.

* * *

"That's what _she's_ for!" Gina tearfully pointed at me and then hid her tear stained face behind her hands again while I glared at Lou. I wanted to scream at him that he should at least make _some_ _attempt_ to hide his indiscretion better but I bit my tongue instead and filed that particular retort away for later.

"Baby, it's not that I don't love you. You know that right?" He reached across the island in my kitchen that separated them, tipped her chin up and gave her a truly heart warming smile. "Hey, I married _you_."

Ugh. That was boy logic if I'd ever heard it. I did believe that he believed it. The way he looked at the pretty woman in front of him with her long stick straight black hair and naturally tanned skin. Everyone knew what Lou had done when he had insisted on more time off to be with Gina both times she'd given birth. It had pissed off the fans and even isolated himself from a couple of the guys on the team but it had been important for him to be there with her.

What I found harder to believe was that the same guy would risk being caught with a blonde floozy on his lap at one of the nicest and most expensive restaurants in this town.

"Why don't you just fuck _her_ like everyone else does?" Gina sniffed, flinging an arm in my direction. Her gaze snapped to mine and she telegraphed a silent apology for the way it had come out of her mouth. The apology wasn't necessary, I understood what she meant and took no offense but still I winced and braced myself for what was coming. I already knew what Lou's answer was going to be, though I silently prayed he would just tell her the truth, how he needed the adrenalin rush, the win, especially the adoration and ego inflation on a bad night or after a loss.

Instead he stuck to the script he'd come up with.

"She's not my type."

Boy logic indeed. I closed my eyes and counted slowly to ten. A blind orang-utan could tell I looked more like Gina than either of us looked like the blonde he'd been cheating with. Okay, maybe my tits were bigger than Gina's but if 'blonde' was his type then what did that say about the woman he married?

I could feel the anger radiating from the slim woman to my right and was glad that Juice had the forethought to remove the block of knives from the kitchen and hide it in the linen closet. Not that I had any plans to stop her from cutting him up if she really wanted to. As far as I was concerned she had every right to. I mean, _Andrea_ sure as hell didn't like it that I slept with her husband but at least she knew where he was and who he was with.

"So what am I then, just a legal baby making machine?" Gina growled. Her tears had begun to subside as rage took over. I watched her hands curl into fists as she stared her husband down. I glanced over at Lou and he had the nerve to stare blankly back as if there was nothing wrong with that idea.

"You're the mother of my beautiful babies," he replied simply, as if there could be no other answer, as if he honestly couldn't understand _why_ she was so upset, why being his own personal baby maker might not be enough.

The guys and I had talked about this, amongst ourselves, and it shocked me how many of them thought this way; that once the babies were born, sex for fun went out the window. That once they'd watched their wives give birth they couldn't imagine doing the raunchy stuff they'd previously enjoyed. They loved and respected their wives for the strength it took to give birth and the patience it took to look after their children, especially when the guys were away, which was all well and good but what I heard most from their wives was how much more fun their relationships had been before the kids had come along.

So help me, before my contract was up, I planned to get it through their thick skulls that squirting out a few kids didn't make a woman a saint or turn her instantly wholesome and vanilla. God damn it, these girls deserved a little freaky in their lives too!

Gina looked over, silently entreating me to help. I slid a little lower in the chair and felt guilty for not leaping to her aid. If she'd slapped him I would have known what to do but her looking helplessly towards me put me in a very precarious and difficult position. Everyone accepted that I was practically one of the guys and I honestly understood why Lou felt like he needed to just fuck away a loss and that he honestly believed, no matter how insane the thought was, that he couldn't use his wife for that. Still that didn't change the fact that his wife was sitting there in obvious pain and she deserved someone's help.

It was killing me to see them in this situation. Mentally, I added another stone of condemnation to his side of the scale since it wouldn't have happened if he'd simply come to _me_ like he was supposed to!

Hey, when I said I didn't judge, I meant _out loud_.

Taking a deep breath I figuratively held my nose and jumped off the cliff. "It seems that Roberto was only seeing this one girl and he hasn't slept with me, at all, so it is _kinda_ the same." This was the lie he'd concocted, that he was certain she'd accept; that there was just _one_ other woman. He thought that would make her more amenable to the idea of his having a mistress, that cheating with one woman was better than a revolving door of sluts and hoes. I didn't follow the logic, but then who was I to throw stones? I was currently sitting in a big glass house.

As I had expected, Gina looked even more hurt than she had the moment before I'd said it. I could see the exact second as she struggled to hold it together and I wished, more than anything, that I could take it back. I gripped the edge of the table, stared down at stark, cold granite and wished it would swallow me up. It took everything I had to keep my gaze lowered and not to glare at Lou. I really, really wished that I hadn't promised to help.

"You see?" he added, sounding far too pleased with himself. That's when I did shoot him a look so that my displeasure would be known. Unfortunately he only had eyes for his wife who was still looking like someone had just broadsided her with a shovel. "It's just one girl and baby, you've got to believe me, she doesn't mean anything to me."

I could see the struggle behind Gina's big dark eyes as she tried to believe what he was telling her. It made me want to hug her but I kept my hands there on the edge of the table and did nothing. The thing was, Lou believed in what he was saying and I knew that he could sell it _because_ he did. If I so much as looked at her, she'd know, instantly, that he was lying.

Gina swallowed hard. "You took her to Il Giardino. We haven't been there since…," her voice trailed away and big, fat, silvery tears filled her eyes. If I'd had to hazard a guess, and I did automatically, I'd have said the last time they'd been to their favourite restaurant together was to celebrate her first pregnancy; the one that had ended too soon.

"Exactly!" he pounced, looking even more earnest and determined than before. "Why would I take you back there and remind you of that?"

I glanced at him, at his hair greased back on his forehead (leaving his signature widow's peak that caused some of the fans to call him 'the Count' in reference to the one on Sesame Street), and I was sure he'd never thought of that when he'd taken his piece on the side to one of the best restaurants in the city. He'd done it to show off; just like when he did that round the world catch he often made on the ice, because he _could_.

When I turned back to Gina there was just the hint of acceptance on her face and her eyes softened as she gazed at him. She was swallowing his line of bullshit and it made me furious but I couldn't show it. This wasn't a decision that I could make for her. He was her husband and she had to decide just how much shit she was willing to take from him.

On the other hand, as I sat watching him coddle her like he was offering her a rainbow and not a life of playing second fiddle, I began to see myself in her shoes and I wasn't sure I liked that at all. At the end of this season, if things with Chris continued to go the way I was certain that they would, stepping down from my position as the Specialist would mean taking my place as just another WAG.

Would I be paranoid twenty-four-seven like Andrea or would I suffer silently like Gina? Would Chris cheat on me? Could it be called that after he'd spent all this time waiting for me to fuck my way through his teammates?

"I...I think you guys can take it from here. I have to go." I didn't wait for either of them to ask me where I was going or why I was leaving them in my place. I got up and headed for the door. They could lock up when they left or not. Right at that moment it didn't matter to me.

* * *

Once I hit the street I kept walking, no particular destination in mind, but eventually I found myself standing outside of the building Chris lived in and I before I realized it I was knocking on the door.

"Hey, this is surprise," he grinned and ran one of his hands through his mussed hair, like he'd been sleeping or….

"Um... if this is a bad time…?" I told myself to stop being paranoid and, alternatively, even if he did have someone in his bed it wasn't like I wasn't fucking the entire team and I didn't have the right to be angry or jealous.

"No, it's all good. I'm just surprised to see you," he continued to grin as if butter wouldn't melt as he leaned in to press a kiss against the corner of my mouth. Or it could have been that was all I would allow him to do before I squeezed past him with visions of discovering some blonde bimbo with pale pink lipstick and bad hair-extensions. I surveyed the room with a huge LED screen dominating one wall and an equally long and deep saddle leather sofa dominating the rest of the room and no sign of a girl of any kind in sight that I could scratch the fake eyelashes off of. "Looking for something?"

"Um…no," I lied but not quickly enough to cover up a furtive glance towards the kitchen.

Chris tilted his head to one side and smirked, like I was doing something amusing instead of something I ordinarily would have thought of as despicable and pathetic. "Not that I'm not happy to see you babe, but you look like you're looking for something or maybe…., _someone_?"

"Of course not," I sputtered. "Why? Is there someone here?" Jesus, I was five seconds away from checking under the couch cushions but I tried my damndest to sound like it didn't matter one way or the other.

"Well, well, _well_... this _is_ an interesting turn of events." He looked positively gleeful that I was behaving like a crazy jealous girlfriend and I didn't know who I was more upset with as I turned my back on him. _Me_, for being suddenly insanely and without foundation jealous or _him_ for thinking it was so fucking amusing. "Oh c'mon Penn," he cooed as his big hands settled on my shoulders, "after all my tantrums that I've thrown this season, you have to let me rub it in just a little bit, puhleeeeeeeze?"

As he nuzzled my temple I relaxed back against him. There was no point in denying the obvious. I was behaving as if he'd already done something to deserve my mistrust and I was the only person in the room that had done anything wrong. "I'm sorry," I sighed, "You must think I've lost my mind."

I could hear his deep, masculine chuckle as he wrapped his big arms around me. "Actually I was kinda wondering when this was going to hit you," he told me softly. Confused, I turned in the circle of his arms and stared into those sexy, bedroom eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I come from a long line of cops and firefighters Pen, I'm a practical guy. I like to think things through in a logical way. I knew you had to get past the loved up stage eventually and join me in reality."

A frown formed on my face and I pushed him back a bit. "Wow," I strode across the room to plant myself on the far end of the couch from where I continued to frown at him. "So you're _past_ loved up?" I asked quietly. It felt like he'd stabbed me in the gut and yet he was still smiling at me like I was doing something adorable instead of deplorable.

"Penn, I didn't mean that I don't love you," he sighed and crossed the room to on the coffee table in front of me, reaching to take both of my hands while he gave me his serious face, "I just mean I could kind of tell that you hadn't thought about what would happen when it was just, y'know, you and me."

I had no argument to that. I felt my shoulders fall and suddenly I couldn't look at him. "When you say it like that…I feel completely ridiculous." The rhythmic stroke of his thumbs along the back of my hands was comforting. I knew that he hadn't said it to make me feel that way but it didn't seem to quell the tide of negative that was threatening to blow me apart from the insides.

"Well I don't mean for you to feel that way babe," he said softly. He meant it. I knew that he actually felt bad about it, but recognizing that still didn't help me feel any better.

"I don't want to turn into…into _Andrea_," I admitted. The heavy silence that followed my admission was _not_ a good sign. "Shit Chris," I grumbled and pulled my hands back to hug my arms defensively around myself. I was really beginning to feel like falling apart."This is where you say I'd never be like that, like _her_." I stared at him and waited for that casual happy go lucky grin of his to appear but he just returned my gaze looking…apprehensive. "Oh…oh _wow_," I felt the knife twist in my stomach and had to swallow bile as it bubbled up in my throat. "You actually think I _could_ end up as crazy as her, _don't you_?"

He obviously didn't want to say it out loud but he really didn't have to, it was clear as day on his handsome face. It was suddenly very, _very_ hard not to cry.

Chris scrubbed a hand over his stubble and sighed. "Well…maybe not as _bat shit_ crazy as Andrea but you've just proved that you've got some jealous tendencies dontcha think?" I refused to reply. After all, he'd already done a good job of rubbing that in. "Penny, it's not the end of the world, okay?" He reached over and slowly, gently, cupped my cheek as he fought not to smile. I was _so_ not impressed that he found this even slightly amusing. "Babe, it makes me feel good that you care about me that much."

It was a nice try but it didn't change that I felt like an enormous idiot right at that moment. "Now you're just being patronizing," I huffed and refused to give into the urge to lean my face into his hand, to be drawn into the desire to kiss him as leaned into my personal space.

"I'm glad this came up," he said quietly, like he was expecting me to freak out at any moment. "I'm glad I didn't have to force this discussion. We really have to talk about what happens at the end of the season because if we're going to continue with this relationship then I think we need to figure out what happens when you're not the Specialist anymore."

I'd already come to that conclusion but I hadn't yet connected all the dots. If I wasn't on the payroll that would mean some _other_ girl would take my place. And that girl might…_would_ very likely…and then on the road…. "I feel sick," I mumbled, getting to my feet and stumbling toward the door.

"_Pennnnn_," He sounded exasperated but I couldn't turn around. I wanted to yell and break things and generally be as immature as the realization that I was could be just as envious as Andrea and that made me feel like I might want to rip some perfectly innocent girl's hair out just for looking at my man and I didn't want to be _that_ girl.

"Just give me a minute, Chris," I requested quietly, leaning my forehead against the doorframe. "I need to let this... sink in. I need to come to terms with a few things so I don't feel so _stupid_," I listened to his muted sounds of his sock covered feet crossing the hardwood floor and then felt his big hands settled on my hips. Any other day that would have made me want to lean back into him, to feel his big, solid body behind mine but right at that moment, this was the last place I wanted to be. "I'll call you later," I muttered.

* * *

It took an effort of will I didn't realize I possessed but I forced one foot to move in front of the other until I was back out on the sidewalk and walking down the street, ignoring the other late afternoon shoppers with their brightly coloured bags with their expensive lattés texting on their iPhones as they walked around me. I kept going, not feeling the cold sting of the rain as it began to fall, marching right past my own building and up to a townhouse several blocks in a direction I had never taken before.

The wind had picked up along with the rain and I was saturated as I stood on the doorstep of a townhouse I'd never been to and waited for my knock to be of me was hoping it wouldn't be and I was seconds away from leaving when the door finally swung open.

She looked just as surprised to see me as anyone else would have been.

"He's not here," she blurted out, wariness evident all over her face and confusion too.

"I know that," I said quietly, not moving an inch while I waited for her to clue into the fact that I wasn't here for her husband, I was here to see _her_. However this was going down wasn't up to me. I was allowing her to make the choice, giving her the power to make the decision whether or not to let me pass.

She could have slammed the door in my face. Considering our history, that was actually the reaction I'd been expecting and quite frankly suddenly I felt like that was what I deserved, but after a long moment where she stared me down, she stepped back and out of the way so that I could cross the threshold and into her home.

I followed her through the hall and into the kitchen where a batch of cookies were cooling on a tray on the counter. "You bake?"

"For Michaela's dance recital," she shrugged. "Some moms do orange slices. I bake. It relaxes me."

My attention caught on the collection of full cookie tins stacked on the table in the nook and I glanced at her. "There are worse vices."

She almost smirked. "I've been told I'm a nasty drunk." I bit the inside of my cheek hard in an attempt not to smile at the fact that she had a sense of humour. Who knew? The silence stretched between us until she finally gave in. "What do you want?"

"I don't want to be you."

Okay, in all fairness, I hadn't actually planned on going to her house at all so it wasn't like I had a speech prepared. But I probably could have opened with something a little less...well, _harsh_.

Andrea tipped her head back and laughed. Like full out, belly busting laughter and I let her. She deserved the moment.

It took her a while to regain her composure but when she did, her face was red and there were tears on her cheeks. "Well, look who just woke the fuck up." I decided I deserved that too and kept my mouth firmly shut. Her smile turned deadly and only then did I begin to worry about the sharp knives nearby but I just stood there and stared at her. There was no real point in arguing. She wasn't exactly wrong.

"Jesus Christ, what did you do, _swim_ here?" Andrea turned on her heel and marched in the direction of the laundry room, returning with an oversized towel that she flung at me. "You're dripping on my floor." I blinked at her back, disbelieving that I was going to get off that lightly. I guess I'd wanted the speech, figured I deserved it.

Catching the towel I glared at her. "I'm sorry. Seriously, I apologize that you hate me so fucking much, but there really isn't any reason to be such a colossal bitch all the damned time."

Her head tilted slightly and she aimed a smile at me that sent a chill right up my spine. "Isn't there?"

Fuck. This day continued to colossally suck. My thoughts were messed up from the whole Gina and Lou thing and seriously shaken from the Chris conversation and obviously I was suffering from some form of PTSD because no one in their right mind would have willingly subjected themselves to _this_. "Y'know what? Nevermind," I draped the towel over the closest stool and decided to leave. "I don't even know what the hell I'm doing here."

She waited until I got to hall and then called out. "You're here because you broke the rules and now you want to know what's going to happen." I stopped but didn't turn. It felt, very distinctly, like she'd just thrown a knife and it had lodged, quite deeply, in my back."You did _exactly_ what you weren't supposed to do, what you were told never to do. It doesn't matter that you excelled in every other aspect of your job," her voice got stronger as she moved closer to me, "you violated the one, the _only_ cardinal rule." I could feel her, inches away from me. "Silly bitch, they don't tell us not to fall in love with them for _their_ sake."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Like that is it?"

I looked down at the nearly empty pint of Rocky Road ice cream on the counter in front of me and shrugged. It pretty much said it all. Holly walked through the kitchen like she knew her way around and got herself a spoon from the drawer by the sink. I let her take tub of ice cream but I did look at it a little too longingly as she scraped the bottom of the tub.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," I blurted out. A shrewd smile spread slowly across her face as she leaned her hip against the counter.

"No one ever does," she replied with a smirk before seductively sliding the near liquid on the spoon between her lips and sucking it off slowly. "So how bad is it?" I sighed and dropped my head into my hands. I'd called her for help but I didn't know what to say. I'd been going over everything in my head, over and over, since I'd nearly caught my death walking around the city in the rain.

"Bad," I decided. Holly smirked and I was glad that she didn't just laugh at me. After coming to my mind shattering epiphany I felt like laughing at myself. "Everything was fine...," I began and then shook my head. "No, that's a lie. From the start he was like forbidden fruit because he wouldn't be with me and now...," I shrugged. I didn't want to put it into words and thankfully she didn't make me.

"And what about him? Does he have it as hard for you?" I moaned out loud.

"Yes..., no...oh fuck, I don't know." This was part of what I'd been struggling with. I felt like he loved me but if he loved me, if he _really_ loved me, then why had he let me make such a fucking fool out of myself?

"So he's forbidden you from...carrying out your duties?" I lifted my head and stared at her.

"_No_! No, he's not like that. Actually...," visions of that night, with Kev and Chris, sprang to mind and I almost laughed. "No, he's actually been supportive. It's me. I just realized...oh fuck." It still burned, the idea that I was turning into _her_. She'd enjoyed rubbing it in, but in the end we'd come to a sort of truce. That didn't mean she wasn't going to enjoy lording it over me from now on but, in the end, I think she actually ended up feeling sorry for me and that wasn't helping my current state of mind. "You know about Andrea, right?" Holly nodded and then headed for the fridge.

"So you're worried that you're going to turn into a shrew?" she called over her shoulder before reappearing with a tub of yogurt. I watched her peel the lid off and dig into it with the spoon she'd just used for the ice cream. She made a face and then looked at the label again, shrugged and continued to eat.

"Something like that, yeah," I admitted, feeling a sudden weight lifted from my shoulders. It was good to admit it to someone other than the people directly involved. She gazed at me thoughtfully for a long moment and then waved the spoon in her hand in a dismissive way.

"We can make this easily all go away. The Hawks have put in a request for a relief Specialist. That Kaner kid gave the current one something vile and itchy that's going to take a while to treat so it would be just until the end of the season. Maybe a little space would help you clear your head. You know what they say, a change is as good as a rest." My mouth fell open in shock. I wanted to say no - _scream_ no from the top f my lungs but a part of me, albeit a small part of me, wanted to grasp the life vest she was offering.

"But the guys...Juice and Eddie..." I couldn't imagine being away from them, trusting anyone else to look after them. I had a surge of the kind of protectiveness I imagined a mother bear felt for her cubs. "No, I couldn't. I'd feel like I was letting everyone down."

"Well, if you wanted to go further afield," she put the tub of yogurt down on the counter and slid her iPhone out from beneath her blouse, likely from her bra, and began scrolling through her contacts. "I could move a couple of girls around. Kate's been with the Rangers for three seasons, it's about time she had a change," she added thoughtfully.

God, it was a real possibility, me, not being here. _Me_ not being with my guys. _My_ guys. That's the way I thought of them now and I couldn't imagine not thinking of them that way. I couldn't imagine them not being _mine_.

"I dunno," I began but when Holly raised her eyebrow at me I heard that voice in the back of my head saying that I might need a break, that I might really need some space to clear my head.

"Well you're the one who called me saying it was an emergency and you're the one who said you were, and I'm quoting you here, _in over your head_," she reminded me in a tone that wasn't exactly sympathetic but wasn't judgemental either. For her this was business and I knew that she wanted the best for me as much as she wanted the best for the team.

"I guess I just need a little bit of time to think about it," I explained. She nodded and gave me a sympathetic if stiff hug.

"I won't let them fall into the wrong hands I promise." I may have smiled at her as she gave me that 'it will be fine, I promise' look but I didn't believe her. They were my boys and no one could take care of them like I could. "You do know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder," she offered, as if she could read my mind, and, I was guessing after all these years of doing this job she was probably an expert at reading body language and facial tics. "Y'know, I should have known this would happen," she added cupping my cheek affectionately. "He wanted to ask you out that night I recruited you. Maybe I should have just let him do that instead." For a moment I wanted to agree with her. That certainly would have made my life simpler. But then I shook my head.

"I really love my job," I told her honestly.

"Okay, well then let's try and make sure that you can keep feeling that way. Think about my offer, take two aspirin and call me in the morning."

* * *

I was trying to talk myself out of opening another tub of ice cream when there was a knock at the door. I wasn't sure how I felt about being with any of the guys right at that moment. Part of me knew I'd be glad of the distraction but on the other hand I already felt disloyal as fuck.

"Pen, babe, you in there?" My heart skipped a beat just the way it always did when he said my name but I didn't bounce to my feet and skip happily to the door. I was pretty sure the last person I wanted to see right now was on the other side of that door.

"Go away," I shouted as I tried to wiggle myself lower into the couch. Now I could definitely hear the tub Mrs. Field's Super Fudge Brownie ice cream calling my name.

"Sweetheart we can't leave it like this. C'mon babe, we need to talk." The fact that he was right didn't make me move any faster as I dragged my ass off of the couch and then dragged my feet along the floor until I got to the door where I took my time unlocking each safety measure as slowly as I could, putting off the inevitable moment when I'd have to open the door and he'd be standing there looking like as edible as a giant chocolate bar.

I meant to turn away as soon as I opened the door but as soon as I caught sight of the slightly torn white t-shirt through which I could see his tats and the equally well worn jeans that hugged his skater's thighs I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I just stood there, half leaning on the door and drank him in like he was oxygen and I was surfacing form somewhere deep down in the sea.

Tossing my pride aside, I threw my arms around his neck and just held on, breathing in his warm, ivory soap and musky male scent as I felt his massive arms wrap around me, lift me off the floor and walk me back into the living room.

Neither of us said anything for a while. We just sat there, me in his lap, his arms around me making me feel safe, making me feel wanted. It took a while but the thoughts finally crept into the nearly perfect silence; would he still want me like this, feel this way about me if I was working with another team.

"I've been offered the spot in Chi-town," I said quietly, mostly to his stubble covered cheek. I felt him tense, every muscle in his body becoming as still as a garden sculpture. I couldn't even feel his chest rising and falling against my side so I pulled back enough to look at him and his big blue eyes were wide.

"But...why?" he asked, sounding genuinely mystified as his gaze searched mine. It would have been kind of cute had we not had the heated verbal exchange earlier in the day.

"I think I need some space, y'know, to clear my head," I told him. I'd almost come to the conclusion, sitting there in the dark on my own, that leaving was the right decision. There was only this, not knowing if he would draw a line at sharing me with our Chelsea Dagger singing Windy City dog eating enemies.

"You can't go." He said it like it was a foregone conclusion, as if we'd already been through the pros and cons and come to a consensus. I raised my eyebrows at him and the corner of his full mouth turned up like he'd said something funny. "I know you want me to say _shouldn't_ but baby, you can't go. _I_ need you _here_."

I was already on the verge of turning into a blubbering mess but hearing those words and seeing the sincerity in his summer sky blue eyes tipped me over the edge. I buried my face in the soft warmth of his t-shirt and let go of all of the confusion and pent up emotions that I'd been holding in for the last twenty-four hours. I cried until I was barely able to catch my breath, until my nose was running and I knew I looked like a huge mess but he didn't look at me like that. He just smiled and wiped my tears away, kissed the tip of my nose and just kept looking at me like there was nothing else in the room and no one he'd rather be with.

"If I tell you something will you promise not to call me a pussy?" he whispered, his thumb gently brushing along my cheekbone. I leaned into his hand. I knew he was trying to make me smile and it worked, but then it always seemed to when those creases by his eyes deepened and I found myself envying his long, dark eyelashes. "You'd never have to worry about me if you were my girl and there was someone else in this place." I looked past him out at the rain beating against the window and imagined some other woman with her palms spread against the cool glass getting thoroughly fucked by Kess. The vision made me frown. "Well that wasn't the reaction I thought I'd get." I rubbed at my eyes and ran the declaration he'd just made through my head again, this time concentrating about on the part about him, about not having to worry about _him_. "Pen, sweetheart, in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of an old fashioned guy, if I'm with you I'm not with _anyone_ else."

It was like being given the best present on Christmas morning, the one you'd been hoping and praying for, the one your parents had intimated they couldn't afford and told you that you'd better write to Santa for. As good as it was, and it was very, very good, that didn't mean that I wasn't pissed at him for letting me worry and beat myself up.

"Why didn't you say something before?" I scrambled to sit up and ended up with my knees on either side of his thighs which was no mean feat in and of itself.

"I figured once you calmed down you'd figure that out on your own," he replied softly but I could tell he was trying his best not to laugh. I punched his shoulder. He didn't flinch, not even a little. He just grinned at me and slid his hands around until they were sliding up the small of my back. My anger melted as I felt his thumbs digging into my tense muscles. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sensation of his skin against mine, the press of the outside of his thighs against my inner ones and his breath, warm on my throat.

"So I can stay?" I whispered, grinding against him as he slowly pushed my t-shirt up my back. I raised my arms over his head and took it the rest of the way off, tossing it across the room before opening my eyes and gazing down into his. At the best of times they were the colour of water off a white sandy beach in the middle of the day. Now they were a darker blue, like they sky at twilight when it can't decide if it's blue or black.

"Stay and fuck all of my teammates and then come home to me," he smiled but his grin faded until I could tell what he was thinking. I could feel it too, pressed up against my most sensitive parts.

"Yeah?" I lowered my mouth over his and kissed him slowly, winding my tongue around his and grinding against his erection until he groaned and then used his considerable leverage to turn the tables on me, tossing me down onto the couch and pressing me into it.

"As long as you let me watch once in a while," he added, biting my neck until I squealed.

"Kinky bastard," I giggled, wrapping my legs around him while I dug my fingers into his sandy blonde hair.

"Aren't you a lucky girl, having a boyfriend who actually _wants_ you to fuck other guys," he whispered hoarsely, his body moving against mine like we weren't still in our clothes. All I could think about was the last time I'd seen him naked and how much I'd wanted him to fuck me.

"I'd feel even luckier," I whispered against his mouth, "if my boyfriend would take me to bed and make love to me." Chris bit down on my bottom lip and gently tugged it. I felt that pull right down to my clit and squirmed beneath him.

"Is that an order..._coach_?" he asked as he released my lip and began to kiss his way down the line of my jaw and then down onto my neck. His hand slipped beneath the lace of my bra and my nipple actually ached as the palm of his hand slid over it. "Because I wasn't thinking about the bed...well, not quite yet anyway," he added looking up at me with a single raised eyebrow.

I didn't ask him what he was thinking, I couldn't, not after he slipped his hand beneath my breast and slid it out of the cup of my bra and then promptly fastened his lips around it. My blood turned to freshly popped champagne, fizzing through my veins. I mewed like a newborn kitten as his teeth gently tugged at the hard bud before his tongue swept, warm and wet, over it. I gasped as he repeated these motions, freeing my other breast and giving it the same attention until I was squirming beneath him.

"God you're so sensitive baby," he chuckled, placing a tender kiss on my sternum. I watched him slowly kiss and nibble his way down my torso, pausing to pay particular homage to my belly button, his tongue diving into the divot, his teeth tugging at the flesh until I whimpered. "If you make noises like that now...," he kissed a freckle just below my belly button and then drew himself up so that he could begin rolling my sweats down over my hips, "I can't wait to hear what kind of noises you're going to make for me now."

As he tossed my sweats aside his gaze held mine and the expression in those blue orbs was something akin to menacing but with a side of amusement that made me squirm and try to dig myself further back into the cushions of the couch. Not that I wanted to get away but my brain obviously thought otherwise.

The expression on Chris's face as he knelt on the floor between my knees slowly changed to reverential as he placed a soft kiss on the inside of my right knee before brushing his stubble covered cheek along the inside of my thigh. I closed my eyes. I knew I was already overwhelmed and he hadn't even come close to the goal yet.

My fingers dug into the cushions and I drew in a long, ragged breath as his warm breath blew over my oh-so-very sensitive skin and his hands slowly, so slowly, slid up my thighs. I could have passed out just from the sensation of his fingers peeling the lips of my pussy back but it was the first swipe of his tongue that sent the bottle rockets in my brain zinging, popping and sending sparks raining down like liquid stars.

He could have swiped his tongue from south to north or vice versa. He could have even pounced immediately on the pearl of female sensitivity or, as Kess was wont to do, shove his tongue as deeply as he could into my entrance. Instead his tongue circled my clit slowly, deliberately avoiding the target not just once but half a dozen times while I clenched my teeth, squeezed my eyes shut and made helpless nonsensical noises deep in my throat.

Happy in his work, he hummed and the vibration seemed to set off a tuning fork somewhere deep inside of my body that sent its vibrations out through my blood stream until I could feel them even in the tips of fingers and toes.

"Ohhhhhhhh godddddddd Chrisssssssssss." I felt more than heard him chuckle and the vibration of his laughter and that, along with the dexterous way he was lapping at the juices seeping from peach was almost too much. I grabbed a cushion and shoved a corner of it directly into my mouth, only partially muffling the scream that ripped itself from my throat.

"Relax baby, I haven't even begun," he promised. I whimpered. My legs were already quivering and I knew it would only take one, maybe two swipes of his tongue, at the most, against my clit and I would tumble happily over the edge.

I'd always known his fingers were thick, like the kind of sausages you paid extra for at a hot dog stand, but as he slid first one and then two into my honey hole I was reminded all over again but I didn't have time to contemplate that too long before just the point of his tongue began to gently stroke over my clit. I bit down hard on the corner of the pillow but it hardly stifled the ecstatic groan of sheer pleasure that rumbled up like a low slung Harley.

"Fuckinggoddamnholyshit," I gasped, tossing the cushion aside. Fuck the neighbours. They'd probably heard me scream a time or two. What was one, maybe two hundred more times?

"Mmmm baby you taste sweet," he sucked on my clit like it was a candy and my entire body twisted. I was _so_ close.

"Ugh...pleeeeeeeze," I begged, my hands curling into fists at my sides.

"Please what Penny?" He looked up at me over the rise of my tummy and smiled the kind of devilish grin that made his blue eyes look as though they were lit with fire. He pursed his lips and blew and the warm breeze, moist breeze across my clit just pushed me closer to the edge. I'd almost forgotten about his fingers until just that moment when he curled them back towards him and found that spot that made my entire body arch up off of the couch like I'd suddenly been possessed or a thousand volts of electricity had just been passed through me and I screamed. I screamed and screamed and my body shuddered and maybe I heard him say my name, say comforting things while it felt like I was exploding from within but mostly all I heard was the varied and colourful curse words spilling out of my mouth while he used those fingers to fuck me, to stroke my g-spot while I came and came until I thought I was going to pass out.

Of course as promised he was far from done with me. By the time I could tell one sensation from another I could feel the point of his tongue making slow circles around my clit again, every third circle broken up by a quick flick of his tongue that made my hips jerk up off of the couch. I whimpered like a dog that had been kicked to the curb and was trying to drag itself off into the bushes. I couldn't decide if I wanted to beg him for more or beg him to stop but just as I reached to dig my fingernails into his scalp he ran the flat of his tongue up, over and around my clit and I cried out, my hands shoving his face harder into my crotch.

So, more it was.

I was utterly boneless by the time he next came up for air, twitching like a fish out of water, having lost the ability to form words let alone sentences as he got to his feet and began, leisurely, to pull his shirt up over his head, baring his chiseled torso by inches, knowing the effect his famously well defined six-pack had on me and every other woman in the city. He tossed his threadbare t-shirt at me and I made the appropriately silly girly fan noises until he opened the top button on his jeans.

I stared at the brass zipper and the goody trail just above it. I licked my lips and felt my pussy throb in anticipation. I should, by then, have been sated but I knew what just a tug of that zipper would nearly reveal and with every single solitary cell in my body I wanted it.

Chris took his time pushing his jeans down over his narrow hips. I watched his grey boxer briefs appear, the kind with the elastic waist band that had Joe Boxer smiley face repeated on it and even that made my mouth go dry.

As he stepped out of his jeans he held his hand out to me.

"Shall we take this party to the bedroom?" he asked sweetly, almost innocently and I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be different, that I shouldn't just yell 'fuck me' from the top of my lungs. So I kept my mouth shut and let him pull me to my feet and then I followed him, demurely and maybe still a little unsteadily, to the bedroom.

I didn't remember having a candle in the bedroom but I must have put it there at one point but I knew the match book next to it was from the Roxy when he picked them up, smiled and shook his head.

"Lappy," he smirked as he lit the candle. When he pursed his lips and blew out the match I bit down on my bottom lip. He was that fucking beautiful, especially as he turned and aimed that grin at me. "I love you Pen, you know that right?" His free hand reached for me and I leaned my cheek into his palm.

"I love you more," I told him, feeling sure that at least in that moment it was true. He shook his head but didn't argue as he leaned in to kiss me, his mouth moving softly over mine as his other hand circled around to the small of my back and pulled me, firmly, against his solid frame. I could not mistake the feel of him, long, thick and hard against my stomach. It was like a threat and a promise; like candy I wanted but couldn't have, or at least not quite yet.

Chris steered me to the bed and then turned, at the last minute, and pulled me down onto his lap so that my boobs were in his face and I had to grab his shoulders to stop myself from slipping off. I laughed but the sound that bubbled up from my throat was cut off as he caught one of my nipples between his teeth and tugged. I dug my nails into his shoulders.

"Jesusfuckingchrist," I gasped, the sensation of his long, hard cock pressed up against my most sensitive parts mingled with the sharp, almost painful feeling of his teeth digging into my flesh was almost enough to tip me over the edge. He looked up at me from between my tits and smiled that slow dead sexy smile that turned my insides into melted hot fudge sauce.

"Are you ready baby?" he said very seriously, his big hands full of my breasts, rolling my nipples between his fingers, twisting them, tugging them. I was never going to be ready for this but I slowly lowered my mouth over his and pressed him backwards onto the bed anyway. If my mind was going to be blown I couldn't think of a better way to go.

Besides, now I had the upper hand.

Chris was now pinned beneath me and I was determined to tease him and make him beg the way he'd done and I had no intention of rushing anything. Not with all that delicious man meat under my fingertips, mouth, lips and tongue. I started at his neck, where his stubble pricked my lips as I kissed my way down to his collarbone and gently kissed my way around a vivid purple bruise from when he'd thrown himself in front of a slap shot. He squirmed and I felt his fingers make a fist of themselves in my hair as I licked my way around the tiny pink bud of his nipple.

I heard him suck a sharp breath in through his teeth when I followed his goody trail down to the elastic of his boxer briefs, lifted it from his pale skin and peeked inside.

"Oh my, all that for l'il 'ol me?" I glanced up the sculpted plane of his body, expecting him to roll his eyes at me. Instead he stared at me with the kind of intensity I was used to from Kess, that I sometimes saw on Chris's face out on the ice but almost never when we were together. It sent a chill down my spine and right into my clit. I moaned.

"I'm all yours babe." He sat up, those amazing abs of his mesmerizing me so much that I didn't feel him reach for me until his hand was curled around the back of my neck. I let my gaze slowly make its way up his beautiful chest until I was staring at his mouth. I'd kissed that mouth probably a thousand times already but I couldn't imagine ever not wanting to.

His tongue was soft and warm as it snaked around mine but his lips were firm and unyielding as he cupped the back of my head, holding me immobile. He took back the upper hand and then used his advantage, his weight, his breadth to press me back onto the bed, under him. He only needed one arm to hold himself above me and the simmering intensity never left his eyes as I helped him push those boxer briefs down.

"I love you," I whispered, reaching up to cup his cheek. He lowered himself enough to kiss me and then he kissed the corner of my mouth and then under my chin, down my neck and then...oh god and then...

The feeling of him, of the head of his cock nudging at my entrance literally stole my breath but when I started to close my eyes he nipped at my bottom lip, hard enough to get my attention.

"Stay with me babe," he whispered as he screwed his way, slowly, inside until he had filled all of me and then he stayed there, balls deep and watched me. "Okay?" he asked, his gaze softening until he looked almost apprehensive.

"Fuck yeah," I grinned suddenly. A little part of me, a miniscule part of me way in the back of my brain must have still been worried that this wouldn't be different, that _he_ wouldn't feel different but in that moment I knew. This was different. This was..., "it's perfect," I whispered.

It was like dawn breaking, the smile that broke across his face in that moment was like a summer sunrise. He grinned at me and I grinned back at him. I didn't ask if he'd been worried about the same thing. He had every right to. I just knew, in that moment, that everything was going to be all right between us.


	19. Chapter 19

_For those of you who thought it was over...nah!_

**Chapter 19**

Waking up with Chris's body curled around mine was not a new sensation but having his warm, naked skin pressed against mine was an entirely new sensation and an awkward one. I'd slept, literally, in innocent puppy piles with nearly every guy on the team but almost always in pj's and almost without exception they were gone before I actually woke up, to practice or their own room for a shower. Only Juice and Kess had made a habit of sleeping in with me and even then both were still earlier risers than me and I usually woke to the smell of fresh coffee brewing and the sound of bacon sizzling on the grill. I wasn't sure if I should move and risk waking him and by that I mean I really wasn't feeling up for a little morning nookie. I was feeling a little tender.

"I'm awake," he chuckled, nipping at my earlobe. "You want the shower first?" I immediately relaxed and even smiled as I wriggled out from beneath the blast furnace of his body.

"Yes please." I didn't ask him to join me. I knew if he did that I'd only end up pressed against the tiles, screaming the place down. The idea had a certain amount of appeal, especially after I'd climbed out of the bed and grabbed his t-shirt to pull on. Seeing him there, with the sheets barely pulled up to his belly button made me want to climb back into that bed, my throbbing girl bits be damned. It took a great deal of will power to turn away from that sight and head for the bathroom.

I was thinking about the restorative powers of hot water and contemplating making a huge stack of pancakes after I got out of the shower so when I heard noises coming from the kitchen I didn't automatically react. Even then, for a moment I assumed it was just Chris searching through the cupboards looking for the means to make coffee. It took my sex addled brain that long to realize that I hadn't heard him get out of the bed, that I knew he hadn't come out of the room behind me.

"Jesusfuck Kess, what the fuck did I say about fucking knocking?" I snapped, turning on my heel to find both him and Juice staring back at me with these innocent expressions on their faces, as if butter wouldn't melt. Maybe it worked on their mums, but it sure as hell didn't fly with me. "How did you get in? I took your keys!" I added, hands on my hips.

"Eddie still had his," Kevin replied, a spoon loaded with Frosted Lucky Charms aimed towards his lips. Eddie. Right, I'd forgotten about his key because _he_ always knocked.

"Well you didn't expect us not to fucking come here after hearing the news." I stared at the sour look on Kess's face. Could they have suddenly changed their minds about mine and Chris's relationship? I felt panic make my chest tight and I was suddenly self conscious standing there in nothing but Chris's ratty t-shirt.

"But I...," I began, hot tears beginning to fill my eyes.

"Fucking Hawks? When were you gonna tell us Pen?" Ryan didn't play poker much on road trips and there was a reason. He didn't have a poker face. If he was well and truly pissed, like now, he couldn't hide it, or more likely wouldn't bother to hide it.

"Chillax, she's not going anywhere." Both guys heads swivelled like they were following a pass and I turned to see Chris wrapping a towel around his waist. I wanted to lick him I was so relieved to have back up. "Isn't that right babe?" he added softly, holding the towel with one hand and cupping my cheek affectionately with his other hand.

"Yeah," I replied softly as a big, silly grin spread across my face. I wasn't going anywhere because this sexy specimen of a man was mine, _all_ mine.

"Oh my god did you two finally _do it_?" Chris laughed. I rolled my eyes. Their momentary affront forgotten the boys were on to the next piece of juicy gossip to be had.

"Higgy and Penny sitting in a tree F-U-C-K-I-N-G," Kess sang as he danced around us like a demented court jester.

I almost looked for Lappy except I couldn't tear my gaze away from the summer sky blue gaze staring down at me so I settled for telling him "That would be dangerous, not to mention uncomfortable. I'd really prefer not to have splinters in my ass."

"Who says they'd be in _your_ ass?" he asked with a grin, caressing my cheek with his fingertips. If I had the biological parts to do it I would have purred with delight. Instead I ran my hands up his chest and around his neck, digging my fingers into his sandy blonde hair and offered my lips to his, ignoring the wolf whistles and catty comments from the peanut gallery while his mouth covered mine in a kiss that was long and soft and sweet as caramel syrup.

"Group hug!" I felt the width of Kev's chest press against my back and then another pair of arms almost crushing my ribs as I guessed Ryan joined in and Chris and I came up for air laughing.

"Hey, hey now, I'm not saying never but I've missed a bunch of turns so I'm claiming the whole day. That is, if it's alright with Penny."

"Spoil sport," Kess gave my ass a firm smack that lifted me up onto my toes and winked. He was teasing but there was also a hopeful glint in his eye that said he wouldn't object to being asked to stay. Kev's arm lingered around my waist like maybe he'd already been invited.

"It's my dream come true," I grinned at him. I peeled Kev's hand off my hip, "which means you don't have to go home but you can't stay here."

* * *

"This is heaven," I sighed, leaning back against his chest, the bubbles that filled the tub up to the rim sloshed over the side and onto the tile floor. The water was piping hot and he was a perfect back rest.

"I'm glad you think so." His fingers laced with mine on the edge of the tub. I stared at our intertwined fingers. They seemed to fit together so perfectly. "I'm glad you're staying," he added and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Me too." I closed my eyes. It felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off of my shoulders. I felt so relaxed I could feel sleep sneaking up on me. "So what's the plan for today? Watch some movies, have a nap..."

"On the one day I get you all to myself? I don't think so sweetheart. Take a nap?" he snorted and gave my wet hair a gentle tug so that I had no choice but to look up at him. "That's what you want to do instead of...go to the Aquarium? Have lunch at the Fish House or the Tea Room, go shopping at Granville Island and we could get some stuff to make dinner..." I didn't let him finish. I was already climbing out of the tub and reaching for a towel. "Oh, so _no_ nap then?" he chuckled, continuing to luxuriate in the bubbles while he watched me dry myself off, making certain that I could tell that he was enjoying the view.

"Well are you coming?" I asked, reaching for a hair band and pulling my hair back into a simple pony tail.

"What's the rush babe?" he asked, slowly pushing himself up to his feet and then standing there, in all his glory, the warm water making his skin kind of glow. I stared. It was all I could do. There was no way my brain or my mouth could have formed words in that moment.

Still smiling he stepped out of the bath, took the two strides required to reach the spot I was standing and then gently pried the towel out of my hand and dropped it casually to the floor. He then used that hand to guide mine down to his thickening, hardening shaft as his other hand tilted my chin up so he could press a soft kiss against my lips.

My pussy clenched. There was something about the way Chris kissed me that made my skin tingle, my heart race and my lady bits quiver. I opened my mouth to his and his tongue swept over and then tangled with mine, tasting of mint toothpaste. He moaned into my mouth as I slowly and firmly pulled my palm up and over the head of his cock.

"Oh baby," he whispered against the corner of my mouth, picking me up by my waist as if I weighed no more than a feather, and putting me down on the cool marble counter, "I wanna fuck you so you'll feel me inside of you all day." My nipples tightened as he positioned himself between my thighs, his hands pushing them as far apart as they would go. I could have told him I would already but I could barely catch my breath and then he slid inside of me, slowly, deliberately taking the time to screw himself into me inch by substantial inch.

I whispered his name like it was a prayer but that single word was muffled as his lips captured mine again and his tongue stroked over mine as his hips drew back and he began the toe-curling process of screwing his dick back inside of me. I shivered, but it wasn't the water turning cool on my skin. It was this, it was him. I loved sex and I'd had plenty of great sex in the past few months but none of it, no matter how enjoyable, compared to this moment, to the feeling of his thick fingers digging into the flesh of my thighs while his long, hard, thick cock filled me to the point that it almost hurt but hurt so fucking good.

His beard almost burned my skin as his lips and teeth moved to the underside of my chin, down my neck and I cried out for him when he bit into my neck, just at the curve of my shoulder. I knew just by the feel of it that there would be teeth marks later and I also knew that I'd wear that mark with pride.

I dug my fingers into his scalp as he dipped his head lower, as first his tongue and then his lips worked at my nipples, one after the other. I felt his lips close around my right nipple but I felt it right down into my pussy and cried out as my entire body clenched, tightened, and my clit pulsed with pleasure. I was getting close.

"Do that again baby and you're gonna make me cum," he warned, letting my nipple slip from between his full lips, those sky blue eyes rolling upwards to look at me.

"Do that again and I'll fucking cum," I promised breathlessly. He smiled and then dipped his head back down and used the tip of his tongue to trace a slow circle around my areola. I moaned and then he tightened the circle, bringing his tongue closer to the pert little pink nib of my nipple. It ached, hardened even more and I felt that right down to my clit. "Oh fuck Chris...ohhhh," I moaned, feeling my pussy tighten around his cock until yes, it hurt but in that way it does before your whole body comes apart. I sank my nails into scalp and held my breath. His teeth grazed my nipple and I was gone. I screamed, his name maybe, nonsense words and curse words too and I let go of his head and held onto the edge of the counter for dear life as he abandoned my tits so he could watch me come apart as he fucked me, his hips rocking back and forth he filled me and then nearly emptied me again as my body pulsed and shook and white spots danced in front of my eyes.

"Yeah baby, just like that," he tried to kiss me but I just groaned into his mouth as his tongue wrapped around mine like he was wrestling it into submission. I wanted to tell him I wasn't doing anything, that I was just along for the ride at this point but then he went suddenly still, wrapped his arms tightly around and pressed his forehead to mine. He groaned and swore and I felt his cock pulsate inside of me sending jet after jet of his seed deep inside of me.

We made out in a dark corner by the shark tank like a couple of horny teenagers. We held hands all through the Beluga show. I couldn't stop grinning, even when people stopped to ask him for an autograph I just stepped aside and watched him, grinning like a sideshow clown. I ordered some kind of salad for lunch and hardly ate any of it. The butterflies in my stomach just wouldn't settle enough to let me eat. I felt giddy and silly and I just wanted to stare at him.

"What?" he asked, brushing at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, "do I have some food on my face?"

"No," I ducked my head, feeling heat rise immediately into my face, having been caught staring at him like a kid with a crush. "I just...you're so..._fuck_! I just love your face okay?" I felt his fingers slide over mine until my entire hand was engulfed by his larger one.

"I love you too Pen." It was simple and not even something he hadn't said before but at that moment it was everything and I felt my eyes fill with tears. "Aw, don't cry babe. C'mere," he tugged on my hand and patted his lap at the same time. It wasn't really the thing to do in a fine dining establishment but I got up and walked around the table anyway. As I sat on his lap he put his arms around me and just held me, saying nothing, knowing he didn't have to.

"Will you two be having any desert today?" the waitress, in her smart black pants and crisp white dress shirt smiled down at us.

"My Penny's sweet enough," Chris said, kissing my cheek. "Just the bill, thank you."

* * *

"Not a whole one!" I cried as Chris pointed to a wild sockeye on ice at one of the fish stalls at the market.

"You can use whatever we don't eat tomorrow," he suggested. I frowned at him and shook my head at the fishmonger who was now holding up the fish by its gills.

"We need like _half_ that," I suggested and the worker smiled, put the fish back down on the ice and reached for another, smaller version already halved. "Unless you're inviting half the team and didn't tell me," I added.

"I just thought I might be working up an appetite soon," he whispered, his arms sliding around my waist as his mouth sought the spot on my neck he'd learned made me shiver every time he so much as brushed his lips over it.

"Oh so it's like that is it?" I giggled, squirming, very aware of all of the inquiring gazes around us. I'd never really been in public with any of the guys on their own, not since that first dinner with Hank and even though I knew this was different, that we were different, there was part of my brain on high alert, aware that there were iPhones everywhere and that a picture of us could be posted on Tumblr or Facebook any moment.

"Are you saying you don't want me to fuck you?" he growled in my ear, one hand slipping up beneath the hem of my t-shirt. The sensation of his warm skin against mine was enough to make me shudder.

"You know I do," I answered, almost grateful when the wax paper wrapped fish was handed over the glass display to Chris. Had his hand gone two inches higher I might have been willing to be taken right there and then.

"Then we'd better get to my place so I can ravage you." The word ravage had my panties drenched but enough of my brain engaged to catch what he'd said apart from that.

"_Your_ place?" I repeated, pulling back on the hand that had just taken mine. Chris stopped, turned back to me and smiled but in a of _'I know something you don't_' kind of way.

"I've got a California king that you haven't fucked the whole team in waiting to be christened," he said softly, bending to press a soft kiss on my cheek. "Before you blow a gasket, this has nothing to do with jealousy. I just want a space that's just for us," he explained quietly, his gaze searching mine to be sure his messaging was getting through. "Okay?" he prompted, one corner of his mouth turning up. I nodded, feeling my heart miss a beat in an almost painful kind of way that made me reach up to touch my chest just to make sure it started beating again. "Then let's go." His sudden grin was like sunshine breaking through the clouds and had the same effect, making me smile and feel like everything was going to be alright.

* * *

"White or red?" Chris had a bottle in each hand as I looked up from my phone. It had been silent in the bottom of my purse but ever since I'd put it out on the counter while I was tossing the salad.

"White, it's fish," I mumbled as my phone vibrated towards the edge of the counter making that rude wolf whistling sound that Kess had chosen for the notification of incoming texts.

"You gonna get that?" he called as I heard him pulling drawers open looking for the corkscrew.

"It's a screw top and...I can look at it later," I reached for my phone before it slipped off the counter and thumbed the lock to close the screen, but too late. I felt Chris's chin dig into my shoulder.

"Lemme see," he reached for my phone but I spun away from him and slid it into the back pocket of my jeans. "Penny, what are you hiding?"

"Nothing," I lied, but couldn't keep a straight face even long enough to get that single word out. I ducked my face away as I backed up against the fridge but knew my cheeks were already bright pink.

"Did Kess send you another one of those pictures," he asked, blocking the only exit from the kitchen. I shook my head but pressed my lips together. If I opened them I knew I would laugh and once I started I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop. "Lappy?" Again I shook my head and clenched my teeth, still trying to hold back the laughter bubbling up in my chest. "Okay it's not Juice, you don't laugh when Juice sends you those pictures," he reasoned out loud, narrowing his blue eyes at me, "so it's got to beeee...," he frowned and I could see the entire roster of guys going through his head, striking off the least likely candidates as he did. "Jesus, is it Lou?" I snorted and then shuddered.

"That might make me laugh, but no, it's not from Lou," I replied, taking a deep breath to try and stop myself from bursting out laughing.

"So who is it? Let me see," he insisted, holding his hand out towards me. I looked at outstretched hand and then up at him and shook my head.

"No, I don't want you causing an incident," I insisted, tears beginning to leak out of my eyes as I gulped for air.

"An incident? Penny..., who sent that text?" This time, as Chris's eyes narrowed I knew he was done playing but even as he advanced towards me like he was ready to run me into the boards, ref watching or no, I couldn't help but giggle.

"You'll just get mad," I warned, pressing my back harder against the front of the fridge as he tried to reach around behind me.

"I'm getting mad now," he promised, trying to squeeze his sausage thick fingers between my ass and the fridge. I squirmed and giggled when his hand slid up under my shirt instead. "I'll tickle you. You know you hate it when I tickle you," he threatened, his fingers just brushing my ribs. I tensed but didn't move.

"I didn't encourage him, I promise," I wheezed, holding my breath, preparing myself for him to dig his fingers into my ribs.

"Who? Who didn't you...oh wait," he smiled but in a menacing kind of way that sent a chill down my spine and right into my panties. "It's stupid mullet boy, isn't it?" he guessed and I thought about lying, for a second but then gave in and let him take the phone from my pocket. I watched him skip through the pictures but by the fourth I could see he was having a hard time looking at them so I swiped my phone back, turned it off and stuck it back in my pocket.

"Happy now?" I asked. Chris made an unhappy face.

"I can't unsee that..._ever_," he moaned, shutting his eyes tight and then sticking his tongue out like he'd just tasted something vile.

"You asked," I reminded him. He made another Mr. Yuck face and shuddered.

"At least I've saved you from _that_," he pointed out. I shrugged.

"I don't think he's as bad as you all keep saying he is. I'm sure he's all talk and no action," I added. Chris stared at me and then, slowly, raised one eyebrow. "Well...I mean, okay _some_ action," I admitted, thinking about the multiple pictures he'd just sent me of his trouser snake in various states of 'alertness'. "But then I'm sure Sharpie and Captain Serious would have totally made up for that," I added just to toss some salt into the wound. Chris raised both eyebrows and grinned.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah?" I squeaked and then turned and ran towards the living room. Trying to run from a professional athlete is pretty pointless. It took him less than three strides to catch up to me, grab me around the waist with one arm and lift me off my feet so that I was kicking and giggling and getting nowhere.

"So you wanna fuck Captain Serious huh? We could probably arrange that. I'm sure you'd probably fall asleep during it but I'll call Hank," he offered.

"I didn't say I _wanted_ to, I just said he might be better than Kaner," I offered as he turned to head down the darkened hallway.

"Yeah but then you'd have to polish Rat Face's knob and that's just gross," Chris added as he tossed me onto the bed. I squeaked as I hit the mattress and bounced, once.

"I heard he just likes to watch," I countered while Chris stood over me, his hands on the buckle of his belt. "Maybe you'd like to watch me with Captain Serious," I offered with a smirk. Chris blinked and then his face went sort of blank. "Oh, so you like that idea do you?" I purred, turning around so that I could get up on my knees while I reached for his belt.

"Maybe," he croaked, licking his lips as he watched my fingers make short work of slipping his belt out of his pants and tossing it onto the floor. His blue eyes focused like laser beams on my mouth as I licked my lips. I'd learned quickly that the only time I could put him in my mouth was when he was not quite hard yet and I could tell by the growing bulge in his jeans that I was losing the opportunity quickly. As I slid my hand into his boxer briefs his dick pulsed in my hand.

"Would you like to watch me do this to him?" I asked as I slid his quickly lengthening dick out of his underwear and slid the velvety head between my lips and over my tongue. Chris's eyes darkened to that midnight blue that told me he was very turned on and I had barely begun.

"You have such a sexy mouth baby," he whispered, reaching out to stroke my hair, brushing it away from my face. I purred for him, which made his eyes flutter closed. He groaned as I curled my fingers around the base of his thick cock and then slowly slid my mouth towards my fingers until there was no more room, until tears sprang from my eyes as all of him filled the back of my throat, triggering my gag reflex.

Rolling my eyes up so I could watch his reaction I slowly let him slide back over my tongue and then slowly licked my way around the head of his cock before slipping him over my tongue again, making sure to breathe through my nose this time doing my best to relax the muscles in my throat, inching him back until I heard him groan my name.

By the time I went to make a third try my jaw ached with the effort and tears escaped the corners of my eyes. Chris's gaze softened and he brushed away a tear with his thumb.

"You do that so good baby," he whispered as I let his dick slide from my mouth, "I'm so fuckin' lucky," he added before pressing my shoulder back until I was lying on the mattress looking up at him. He knew how much I liked to look at him and he took his time stripping off his shirt, baring his six-pack first and then the tattoo on his pectoral muscle and finally his wide, round shoulders. "You won't look at him like that will you baby?" he asked as he pushed his jeans down over his narrow hips. I could only shake my head. I appreciated looking at all of the guys naked. They were each beautiful in their own ways but they were nothing compared to my Higgy.

"Only you babe," I replied, as he first kneeled on the bed and then bent over me, his hands on the top button of my jeans. I watched him peel them back, felt his skin brush over mine and the rush of adrenalin that followed. He kissed the skin above my belly button and then the inch of skin revealed as he pulled my jeans down over my hips. I sighed when his lips brushed the skin as he pulled back my panties.

I raised my hips off the bed to help him ease my jeans down. He slid my panties down next and grinned as he let them dangle from one finger. "I like these." They were black lace with a little red rose at the front. "Would you wear these for him?"

"Captain Serious? Nah, he's probably into white cotton," I predicted. Chris laughed and tossed my panties aside.

"Would you want him to fuck you fast or slow?" he asked, bending again to press his lips just below the hem of my shirt and then he began to push the material northwards, slowly, kissing each revealed inch.

"Fast, I think," I replied a little breathlessly as he licked his way up the curve of my breast and then slowly licked his way around the areola and finally up to the tip of my nipple.

"Fast and hard?" he asked, settling himself between my thighs while he dragged my shirt up over my head. I blinked up at him as my face emerged from the fabric of my shirt, felt my pulse race. Higgy...fucking me _hard_...oh.

"Yessss," I panted and then gasped as he shoved all of himself into me all at once. It hurt, yes but damn it felt good too.

"Like that?" he asked, his eyes going dark and stormy like a rainy night as he stared down at me.

"Yessss," I squeaked, running my fingertips up his arms, feeling each sinew stretched taught as he held himself there, waiting for my consent. I smiled up at him and then looked down the line of our bodies to where they met. "But harder." Chris rarely dropped the gloves on the ice but the expression on his face in that moment I guessed had to be the one that would have looked back at his opponent. It was feral and dangerous and it made me whimper.

He growled, like a cougar about to pounce, reared back and slammed his hips forward, hard and fast, driving the air from my lungs. I cried out, my back arching off the sheets but my lips formed the word 'again' of their own volition and, grabbing my hips in his hands, he did it again, over and over until I was screaming his name, my nails digging furrows into his forearms.

"Like this? Do you think he'll fuck you like this?" I rolled my head back and forth on the pillow. Part of my brain begged me not to poke the bear but the other part of my brain was far too into what was happening to my body.

"No, he'd fuck me harder," I gasped. He didn't check himself. He barely even paused, pulling out mid stroke, pulling me to the edge of the bed and turning me over like a hamburger patty on a barbeque and then his hands were on my waist and I felt him stretching me in every possible way, filling me completely, slamming his hips into mine, harder and harder so that our flesh met with the sound of a fist hitting a side of beef. "Oh goddddddd yessssss," I cried, my fingers scratching at the sheets, trying to find purchase and finding nothing but a handful of material sliding through my fingers.

"Do you want Kaner in your mouth while Tazer fucks you?" he asked, pulling back on my body hard while he shoved himself into me.

"Yessss," I replied breathlessly.

"Do you want him to fuck your pretty mouth until you gag baby?" he asked. I closed my eyes and pictured it, Patrick grabbing a handful of my hair to force my mouth over him while the bigger body of Jonathan Toews filled me from behind.

"Yess," I repeated in a gasp. I felt my body clench down hard around him as the vision swam in front of my eyes. All those hard bodies, all that muscle.

"And when they're done with you, when you think you're done I'll fuck you," he promised, winding my hair around his hand and pulling it back so that I had to turn my head, "and you'll cum just for me baby. You'll hold out and cum just for me." I was past the point of being able to form words, not that there were words for the look in Chris's eyes. Love and lust mixed with heat and desire made me whimper as much as the hard, fast thrusts of his hips. "Are you gonna cum for me Penny?" He gave my hair a tug with one hand and my ass a hard slap with the other and like a kick start on a bike I gave, sobbing and moaning, shaking as I lay boneless on the bed beneath him.

"Oh my...oh my god," I muttered, my face mostly pressed into the sheets.

"You're so beautiful when you cum baby," he whispered, kissing the spot between my shoulder blades before sweeping my hair aside and pressing his lips and tongue to the nape of my neck. I shuddered and let out a sort of helpless cry that sounded like a kitten calling for its mother as my body tightened around his still hard one. It actually hurt but it was like my body no longer understood the language of pain. I bucked beneath him and felt the orgasm take hold more deeply and tears sprang from my eyes. I heard him groan then, felt his meaty fingers dig deeply into my hips as he buried himself deep inside of me and let go, his cock pulsing deep within me as he whispered my name, softly, over and over.


	20. Chapter 20

_I hadn't really planned on ending this like this but it just sort of feels...done. I super encourage anyone who liked this story to run with the idea of a Specialist for another team. _

_Epilogue_

I wrapped a towel tightly around me as I left the shower. The sounds of celebrating hadn't died down in the locker room since I'd gone into the showers to give our captain a celebratory hummer and I found myself grinning as I watched Max and Boots dancing in nothing more than their leggings. Everyone was in a jovial mood after giving the Stars a well deserved spanking; everyone except Juice who was still sitting in his stall with his head between his hands.

I looked over at Chris who was getting ready to head into the shower and he gave me a smile and a wink. He knew I had a job to do and with one look he told me he didn't mind waiting his turn.

"It's not so bad," I told Kev, laying my hand gently on the back of his neck. He growled and didn't raise his head. I sat next to him on the bench and pressed my hip against his, getting close to his body, passing what little warmth I had left from the shower to his quickly chilling one as he sat in his wet gear.

"Everyone gets bad bounces." Lou placed his hand on the top of Kev's head as if in blessing. "It's not your fault man," the usually gruff goal tender added before mussing Kev's short hair and then wandering towards the showers.

"He's right," I whispered, leaning in so that my mouth brushed his bristly cheek, "pucks bounce everywhere in the crease. One or two are bound to bounce off of you once in a while. It was just hard luck that it happened twice tonight," I added, giving his knee a playful nudge with mine. "C'mon, it doesn't matter, we _won_." Kev turned his head slightly, aimed one of his blue eyes at me and that was enough to tell me winning wasn't enough. Sighing I shot a look over towards Chris who was leaning in the doorway between the dressing room and the showers in nothing but an itty bitty towel. He smiled, turned and disappeared into the steam. I slid my hand up Juice's thigh. "I know something that will cheer you up," I whispered into his ear and then very slowly ran the tip of my tongue around that slightly pointed shell of his ear.

"I don't want a bj," he muttered, mostly under his breath.

"Said no man, ever," I laughed, digging my fingers into his ribs. He flinched, his shoulders hunching as he tried to squirm away. "Kevin Francesco Bieksa, you are not going to sit here and feel sorry for yourself when the rink is all empty but the nets are still up," I added, nipping his earlobe while I continued to dig my fingers into his ribs.

"Yeah?" he turned, his eyes huge as he stared at me with disbelief written all over his handsome face.

"Will it put a smile on your face?" I asked as a slow, sexy grin spread across his chiseled features.

"I know it will put a smile on yours," he growled as he very suddenly turned, slid his arms under my body and swung me up in the air like I weighed no more than the towel I was wearing. The few guys that remained in the dressing room laughed but didn't make a move to either stop him or join us so when he stepped out onto the ice and began to glide towards the net at the far end of the rink, I knew we were completely alone.

I didn't worry about Kevin dropping me, or the cold bite of the air in the rink or even if Chris would wait for me. All I cared about in that moment was making the heartbeat of our team happy and fulfilling a fantasy we'd been talking about for a while now.

He set me carefully on top of one of the nets and I felt the twine dig in even through the towel. I wrapped my fingers around the crossbar and bit down on my bottom lip to stifle the slightly hysterical giggle that had begun to bubble up in my chest. Kev reached for the spot where I'd folded the towel over just above my breasts and slowly, very slowly, he peeled the towel back and then let the ends drop from his fingers.

A combination of the cold air and the way he looked at me made my nipples suddenly and a little painfully, harden and I felt gooseflesh break out all over my body. Kev put his hands on the inside of my knees and pressed them apart. I watched his breath come out in an icy cloud as he stared at his goal. Seeing him, still in his shoulder pads, hockey pants and skates somehow made this all that much hotter, not to mention being in the big empty arena where eighteen thousand people had just been cheering.

"Scootch forward babe," he smiled up at me, his hands sliding around to help pull me forward before he leaned in, blowing his warm breath over my now chilled skin. I shivered but not from the cold.

All I could do was hold on for dear life while he parted my nether folds and slowly licked his way northwards, being sure to take the time to circle my clit twice before dragging the flat of his tongue across it. I tipped my head back and cried out, my voice echoing in the big, dark empty building.

"You're so juicy tonight Pen," he mused, sliding two of his thick fingers inside of me. I bit my lip as he reached for my g-spot.

"You know I get turned on by giving...ahhhh!" I cried out again, louder this time and Kev smiled up at me, proud of himself.

"I swear you have a g-spot in the back of that throat of yours," he chuckled before leaning down and using the tip of his talented tongue to bring me, screaming, over the edge.

"Should we find out?" I asked, panting but smiling as Kev ran his hands up my ribcage to cup my breasts, running his thumbs over my erect nipples, teasing them, making it hard for me to speak.

"I could be down for that," he grinned, sliding his hands back down to my waist and then lifting me off of the net but not setting me down. Instead he pushed off and began gliding backwards, towards centre ice. I put my arms around his neck and reached for his mouth with mine.

I didn't mind tasting myself on his lips or his tongue as I kissed him. I was happy that he was no longer wearing a frown. Everything else was secondary now, except maybe that orgasm I'd just had and the one I was now determined to wring from him.

He put me down on my feet and my toes curled at the feeling of the ice beneath them. Laughing, Kev tossed my towel down on the orca logo and then began untying his hockey pants. I swatted his hands aside and, humming the old Hockey Night in Canada theme, set to work on the task I'd set for myself.

* * *

"He looks...more..., relaxed," Chris noted as Kev headed towards his own vehicle in the underground parking lot. I smiled at his retreating form.

"That was the idea," I replied quietly before turning to my man and running my hands up the front of his chest. "Me, on the other hand...I'm pretty sure I have another round or two in me." A slow, sexy smile spread across Chris's lips as his hands found the small of my back and pulled me tight against his body making it clear that he was ready and willing to fulfill that particular task. "Mmm, take me home to bed," I grinned.

"Do we have to wait that long?" he asked, his voice deep and husky in my ear as he lowered his lips to my neck. He'd started growing his playoff -beard and I liked the way it felt when all those whiskers brushed against my sensitive skin.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, unbuttoning one button and then two.

"Almost everyone's gone," he growled along the line of my jaw before capturing my mouth and kissing me hard, pressing me against the side of his car. I sighed happily, reaching between us to cup his erection as it strained against his suit pants. I didn't need to be asked twice.

"Yesss," I hissed, as he lifted me from my feet and helped me wrap my legs around him.

"Did he make you wet Pen? Are you ready for me baby?" he asked as he fumbled to open his fly and pull his long, thick hard dick out of his pants.

"Sooo wet," I moaned as I felt the head of his dick poised at my entrance. I hadn't bothered to put panties on tonight. I found it much easier for both of us if I didn't. We both groaned as he slid, very slowly, into me until I could accommodate no more of him and we were left staring at one another, speechless but smiling.

"Jesus I love you baby," he whispered finally, reaching up to gently cradle my cheek in his hand.

"And I love you," I whispered, turning my head to press a kiss into the palm of his hand. "Now fuck me like you mean it."


End file.
